Trials of Affliction and Light Sleeping
by Padfoot the Marauder
Summary: Draco discovers that he is part Veela. The odd thing is that Veela’s are only supposed to be female. This little fact wouldn’t be bound to bring along some peculiar side effects during mating season, now would it? DMHG
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Trials of Affliction and Light Sleeping

**Author**: Padfoot the Marauder

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing and I know nothing. I'm without a brain and without original characters. This in contrast to JK Rowling, who has it all.

**Disclaimer**: The title is borrowed from a song by Robert Pollard.

**Summary**: Draco discovers that he is part Veela. The odd thing is that Veela's are only supposed to be female. This little fact wouldn't be bound to bring along some peculiar side effects during mating season, now would it? DM/HG

**Authors note:** It's going to be 13 chapter long and I update daily (if nothing goes wrong, anyway).

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Chapter one

Draco Malfoy just sat there, his mind desperately trying to process the information he had just received. As the facts started seeping through his cranium, his trademark mask of indifference gradually slipped from its position and transformed into an uncharacteristic gawk.

_"I'M A WHAT?" _he yelled.

"A Veela, mister Malfoy. You're a Veela" Madame Pomfrey answered her patient.

"But that's impossible!" Draco scoffed while indignantly crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"I'd say the same if it wasn't for you sitting here on my hospital bed." Madame Pomfrey replied pointedly. "Tell me, is there any Veela blood in your family?"

"All women on my mother's side of the family are Veela for at least some part" Draco said dismissingly. "But-"

"See, that explains it" Madame Pomfrey said.

"No it doesn't!" Draco drawled in frustration. "_There is no such thing as a male Veela!_"

"Apparently there is."

"_But it's biologically impossible_! You're a bloody nurse, you should know that."

"I can't explain it either, mister Malfoy" Madame Pomfrey sighed. "All I know is that you are showing signs of a Veela in her -or _his-_ mating period. Veela's mate in the month May, and if I'm not mistaken; it's currently May 1st."

"Yes" Draco growled. "And what can you do to cure this?"

"Cure?" Madame Pomfrey asked with raised eyebrows. "This isn't a disease, Mister Malfoy, it's a part of who you are. The only thing you can do is learning how to deal with this. Since you're only partially Veela I suppose you'll only experience the Veela characteristics during the month of May."

"Which would be?" Draco asked in annoyance.

Madame Pomfrey thought for a second.

"Well, for one thing there's the bunny tail."

"_That_ I gathered" Draco grunted. He had woken up that same morning trying to get rid of the annoying thing he had been sleeping on. When the thing apparently was stuck to his body and after a look in the mirror had appeared to be a sparkling white bunny tail, Draco had screamed so loudly it was surprising he hadn't woken up the entire castle.

"It's a sign of fertility, which states that the Veela is of breeding age," Madame Pomfrey explained.

"It's going to go away, right?" Draco asked while softly cupping another feel at his new bodily asset.

"At the end of the month it should fall off, yes" she answered.

"Thank Merlin" Draco sighed in relief. "What else?"

"I'm not a Veela-expert, Mister Malfoy" Madame Pomfrey stated. "I suggest you consult the library. But I don't think it's unlikely to presume that certain Veela powers should be activated within yourself."

Draco cocked an eyebrow in awareness.

"Like that thing where they make people act all crazy for you and do whatever you want?" he asked with heightened interest.

"Well, yes" Madame Pomfrey answered tentatively. "But may I please ask you not to abuse that power, _if_ it arises. I might be bound by doctor-patient confidentiality, but in extreme cases that law may be broken."

"Fine" Draco said.

"Fine" Madame Pomfrey huffed at his rude behaviour. "You may leave, but if you experience any difficulties or uncertainties you come to see me."

"Yes yes" Draco said while waiving his hand dismissingly as he got up from the bed and marched out of the hospital wing.

After having recovered from the initial shock of being labelled as a Veela, Draco came to the realisation that it was not all that far fetched.

Okay, it was. But not all as far as he had originally assumed. He had known early on that Malfoys can only conceive boys. Several generations ago one of his ancestors had cast a spell which enabled Malfoys to produces female heirs. This to ensure the survival of the family name and prevent scattering of the bloodline. So Draco supposed that, this combined with the Veela blood from his mother's side, he had had a bigger chance to become some sort of biological fluke. Which he was apparently.

Thanks great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather!

Not.

It was only two months till he could have left this wretched hellhole they dare call a school without having too great amount of mental scarring. Two months! But no, the fates had to bestow him with yet another challenge to deal with.

First puberty, then OWLS, then NEWTS and now _this_.

After he was finished cursing every god and deity into the raging fires of hell, Draco had chosen to bury himself into a pile of library books. He had started to read up on his current situation and what he was supposed to expect the coming month.

Not all that much apparently.

It appeared that he would be experiencing a heightened sense of smell and bit of hormone imbalance.

So he'll be a bit hornier than usual.

Big deal!

He would also find himself drawn to one specific individual who he would subconsciously see as the ideal mate to father –so in his case 'mother'- a child. Draco did not mind this part one bit. Since his sexual experiences thus far had only been with Pansy Parkinson, he was craving for some new shagging material. In their fourth year he and Pansy had both decided that it was time to move on from their virgin-statuses and see what else was out there. Therefore, his first sexual experience had been an arrangement of convenience. A pleasurable one as Draco remembered fondly. Occasionally they still sought out each other's company to release sexual tension, but not so much anymore since there really was no mystery between them to relish.

Therefore, Draco rather liked the fact that he was now going to be able to sow his wild oats.

He had always been rather 'petite' in comparison to his male peers, making him definitely not the one with the most virile exterior. Luckily his growing spurt had finally kicked in somewhere at the end of sixth year, which made him now actually look his age instead of the overgrown midget he was before. By now he was tall and muscular, yet he still possessed his slender physique and rather effeminate facial features. Not that the girls seemed to mind that very much. He had noticed the coy stares he got during classes or lunches from blushing girls who were visually undressing him.

And since Draco's Veela seducing powers were apparently going to kick in any day now, he couldn't wait to do some seducing before he'd be drawn to just one person.

Not that he minded that either. Shagging is shagging, even if it was with the same person over and over again. Having Veela-powers might not be such a bad thing after all. He could seduce any girl he wanted and make her do anything he wanted.

He was starting to see the upside to things.

So much so that he actually had started wiggling his fluffy bunny tail.

End of chapter one.

A/N: If it's any consolation, my first chapter always sucks. _Please_ read chapter 2 before you judge the story. _Please_!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Draco was thinking.

Thinking hard.

Who did he want to seduce? With his powers, he could have anyone.

_Anyone_!

But strangely, no one came to mind. He had let every single girl he could think of pass through his mind, but oddly, none of these seemed all that appealing all of the sudden. There was missing a spark.

Strange. The thought of sleeping with several girls who had struck his fancy in the past did not seem all that alluring anymore.

Even when _combined_!

Had he received a beating to the head and had lost his mind?

Or had his subconscious mind already chosen a mate this early on and refused all others?

Draco really hoped this wasn't the case, because that would _royally suck_! Who knows whom he would end up shagging? If it were all about the best candidate for child baring it would probably be the girl with the biggest hips and largest fat reserve.

Hell, if that were the case he would probably end up with Millicent Bulstrode.

Having that unpleasant thought flashing through his head, he decided it best to stop thinking and focus on his potions assignment. Thankfully his lab partner, Blaise Zabini, had paid better attention than he had, so the chance of their potion being ruined was somewhat lessened.

As Draco started cutting up some potatoes his eyes drifted towards the carrots Blaise was currently cutting into even pieces.

Well, not so much the carrots.

He couldn't help but notice what nice hands Zabini had. Long fingers, perfectly manicured nails and a tanned skin that paid homage to his Italian roots. Draco let his gaze travel towards Zabini's face, not really sure why. Draco narrowed his eyes as he inspected his classmate's facial features. Even though they had been dorm mates for years, played Quidditch together in the Slytherin house team and even shared locker rooms he had never noticed what a nice looking chap Blaise was.

In a merely anthropological way of appreciation off course.

Draco was well aware that he himself was handsome. He supposed that that was part of the reason why girls weren't beating each other up to be the first to get into his bed, since being aware of your own handsomeness was not a good asset for some reason. But there was just no use in questioning it. The sky is blue, the water is wet and Draco Malfoy was gorgeous as hell.

So why pretend like it wasn't true? That's just silly.

Blaise Zabini on the other hand was the kind of person who didn't seem to be aware of his good looks. He was the quiet type, only speaking up when he had something to say. This in contrast to Draco who basically would utter every thought that entered his mind. He had never thought quietness to be much of an asset, but now looking at Zabini he reckoned it gave the person a rather mysterious allure. He was quiet, tall, had dark hair, golden skin and Draco supposed that was why... why...

_Why _did Draco feel rather flush all of the sudden?__

Potatoes.

Yes, focus on cutting the potatoes!

Draco walked into the Quidditch locker room after a gruelling training session. Off course, he was the Quidditch captain so he couldn't really nag about it. They were to compete against Gryffindor later that week and Draco was dead set on winning! Once, just once, he wanted to snatch that snitch from under Potter's baffled face and shove the snotty Gryffindork off his broom. He was going to win, even if that meant he had to drag his team unto the Quidditch field to practise in the rain, as they had done that night.

Draco grunted from the feel of his sore muscles as he removed the leather pads from his arms and took off his shirt. He ached for a warm shower so much that he could taste it, so he quickly rid himself from the rest of his clothes and was the first one to retreat towards the showers. He turned on the taps and grunted in relief as the warm water made contact with his shivering body. He dipped his head under the stream and ran his hands through his hair that the rain had been plastering to his forehead. It was at times like this that he remembered why he used to keep it short and slicked back so it was out of his way. Vanity can be a bitch, but he still was not cutting off his hair, which had started to grow out quite nicely.

The other members of the team had started filing in the showers themselves, grunting and cursing from their own sores and bruises. Draco had conveniently put a distraction charm on his tail. It wasn't much, but apparently it was enough. As long as no one expected it to be there, no one would see it. And honestly, who would look at Draco's bum to try to find a sparkling white bunny tail?

Draco had kept his face towards the wall so the shower would hit him from the best angle, but he did notice to his dismay that Blaise Zabini had picked the shower next to him. Draco hadn't been able to make eye contact with him since that little incident in Potions. Well, it wasn't really an 'incident' since Zabini had not been aware of anything.

But Draco sure had been!

What _was_ that anyway?

Fine, Draco did have enough common sense to know that he had been aroused by the bloke.

But _why_?

Draco wasn't gay. He had never fancied blokes. He liked girls. They were soft and curvy and... well, girls. Guys were... guys. Not a very eloquent explanation, but that was what it was.

So why did Zabini make him feel tingly all over?

Draco had to face it; he had a bit of a physical attraction towards Zabini. But that didn't mean he was attracted to any other blokes. It was probably one of the side effects of his hormones going berserk due to it being mating season. Zabini was a handsome chap, so it was not all that crazy. It didn't mean he was Gay, Bi, or whatever. He was just going to look the other way.

Literally.

He was quite relieved to see Adrian Pucey standing on his other side, who looked nothing like Blaise Zabini. He was only medium height, had dirty blond hair and a rather round face.

Not Draco's type.

_Apparently_, since he didn't even know he had a 'type' when it came to men. Pucey wasn't nearly as intelligent as Blaise was, which had become even more evident when he failed all of his NEWTS and had to redo his senior year. Draco noticed that Puscey did have nice muscles though. He was definitely beefier than Zabini, probably because Beating was a more straining job than being a Keeper. Draco had done a good job on switching Pucey from Chaser to Beater. He had quite large hands, which were a great asset when handling a club. And Draco also couldn't help but notice that the myth about men with large hands (that they have other equally large body parts, if you catch my drift) also seemed to apply to Pucey's case. Even though he wasn't all that tall, he was rather hung and-

Fuck!

The only thing his team mates could have seen was a 'haze' of Draco running out of the showers with a speed as if the Devil's dog had just bitten him in the ass. Draco ran into the locker room, put on his clothes, grabbed his shoes and ran barefooted towards the castle.

_What the fuck was that?_

WHAT _THE FUCK_ WAS _THAT_?

Had he actually found himself growing hard at the sight of one of his teammates showering? Yes, he had.

_This was sick! _

_Sick! Sick! Sick!_

Just thank Merlin that no one had apparently noticed anything! He ran towards his dorm, grateful that he had his private quarters since he was this year's Head Boy, and therefore would not have to be facing any of his teammates the same night again. Even though Draco had just gotten out of the shower, he felt dirty. He just wanted to hurl out his intestines and buy new ones.

After he had hastily slammed the portrait closed after himself, he leaned against the wall, closed his eyes and tried to collect his breathing and his wits. He just hoped that no one had just seen him running the way he just had. Ever since he was a toddler, his father had thought him that good posture and elegance of movement was one of the most important things in presenting oneself. Therefore, Draco had always been mindful about the way he carried himself. If his father had seen him brazing through the school like a bloody madman, like he had just done, he would surely have beaten him with his cane until he bled.

"Are you okay?"

Draco's eyes flew open in dismay and he found himself looking at this year's Head Girl, Hermione Granger. She was frowning at him while she looked him up and down. Draco knew he must have been in quite a state. His clothes were soaking wet since he hadn't dried himself off before putting his clothes on and he must obviously look dishevelled from his psychological trauma.

What to reply?

What to do?

Draco did the only thing that seemed rational at the time: He walked up to her, grabbed her face and kissed her.

He heard her yelp as his lips made contact with hers but ignored it. She might be a Mudblood, but she was a girl, she was there and she had lips and Draco couldn't care less about anything else. He did have enough of his wits left to not shove his tongue into her mouth, since he didn't think she would be to shy to bite it off. He poured everything he got into the kiss.

He needed to know.

Did he still fancy girls?

"_Malfoy, what in the flaming hell?_" Hermione shrieked as she roughly shoved him away from her after he had released her face. She looked at him in shock while she helplessly covered her mouth with her hand, as if at any moment another Slytherin might walk by and force her into yet another lip-lock.

"Useless" Draco muttered, more to himself than to her as he walked off and retreated towards his room, slamming the door behind him.

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to my reviewers: Male-chan, Shedraconis, Undying at Midsummer, Munku-JGSPTV, Mandabella, MagicFairyDuster and Bea.

A/N: I knew this story was going to confuse people, but I say it again: It really is a Draco/Hermione story. You'll see.

Chapter three

Draco groaned as he woke up with his face buried in his pillow. As he became conscious of his surroundings, he also became aware that he was making little thrusting movements into the mattress. Apparently during his sleep, he had been trying to relieve his morning erection by rubbing it against his bedclothes. Well, now he was awake and could afford to give it his full attention. With a yawn, he turned himself unto his back and let his hand slide under his pyjama bottoms to grab his hardened shaft. He groaned in relief as he gave himself a hard squeeze. With his other hand, he reached inside the drawer of his nightstand and grabbed a tube of lubricant. He didn't really need it, but using some lube just felt better than having his cock coming in direct contact with his dry and calloused hands. He pulled off his pants, threw them off the bed and went to sit upright. He squirted a bit of lubricant on his hands and rubbed them together. Then he reached for his engorged cock and a hiss escaped his lips as he coated himself with the slick fluid. He laid himself back upon the bed and started jacking himself off. Draco really didn't want to draw this out to long. Sometimes he liked to take his time, play with himself and stimulate several of his other erogenous zones, like rubbing his nipples or kneading his testicles. He had also fingered himself a couple of times, but that just forced him into doing more gymnastic positions than he cared for doing on a daily basis. Especially in the morning.

No, now he just wanted release.

A knot was forming in his underbelly as he sped up his movements. He thrust his hips upward into his hands, desperately seeking for release. Just a couple more... Just one more. One thrust... Two thrusts... Three...

Draco arced his back as the tension in his belly suddenly snapped and waves of energy jolted throughout his body. He just loved orgasms. They made him forget things.

After the waves of orgasm had dimmed down, Draco reached for his wand and cleared his hand and stomach of his semen. He was about to get up and take a shower when he noticed that something was off.

"_What the hell?_"

Draco's day had royally begun to suck!

That morning Draco had woken up feeling so damn horny that he felt like he could shag anyone and anything in sight. Mind you, he was a normal healthy teenage male so he knew quite a bit about raging hormones. But he also knew that _this_ wasn't normal. On any normal day he would wank once or twice, which he supposed was rather a lot in comparison to his other peer. But with being Head Boy, he just needed to relieve his stress more than others do. Still, once or twice (or more depending on the day he was having or the spare time he had) wasn't anything extraordinary.

But now...

Draco had locked himself into his bedroom and had wanked and wanked and wanked... Little over a minute after receiving his orgasm he would find himself aroused again. He had just kept on wanking until everything faded to black and he had lost consciousness from exhaustion. Needless to say, when he found himself waking up sporting yet another rock hard erection he screamed his throat sore in agony.

Quite ironic really. This way he could have been the ultimate shagging toy for women. He could go on and on without need to recover.

But no.

That was the other problem.

_He didn't want any women!_

And the odd thing was that he really didn't want any men either. The mere thought of even kissing a guy disgusted him.

But his body seemed to think otherwise.

Heck, he had even kissed Granger to try to prove differently. It might have been _Granger_, but he still had expected to feel something. She had lips and she had breasts, what more did he need?

Apparently she was missing a penis, since that seemed to be the only thing Draco was reacting to these days.

There hadn't even been a spark.

Nothing.

Zilch.

So now what? Was he basically going to have to be walking around with a constant erection and with no chance of relieving it? Moreover, how was he supposed to 'mate' is the mere thought of shagging a woman grossed him out?

That bloody Karma had finally caught up with him.

So now he was in Potions class (again) brewing a potion with Zabini (again) having put a big honking concealing charm on his pants so others wouldn't notice the prominent bulge he was sporting. _Draco_ did notice it though. He constantly had to fight the urge to start humping the desk. He still couldn't help himself not to 'accidentally' rub himself against the edge of the desk as he bend over to grab another ingredient or what not to find some relief.

Quidditch.

He was going to think about Quidditch! Tomorrow was the big match against Gryffindor and that was what he was going to focus on. He wasn't going to let his hormones get the best of him. He was going to beat Potter once and for all. This wasn't just a game of Quidditch; it was about honour. Draco glanced upwards and glared at the back of Potter's head, whose owner sat in front of him.

Doesn't he ever comb his hair?

You'd think the 'saviour of the Wizarding World' would at least care about his physical appearance. He's supposed to defeat Voldemort, but he can't even win a battle with his own mop of hair?

What kind of PR is that?

Potter's hair did have nice structure though. Nice and thick jet-black hair that just made you want to run your fingers through it. Draco watched as Potter reached over to grab a spoon. He could see the muscles of his back ripple as he leaned over the desk. If Draco hadn't been absolutely enthralled, he would have smacked himself over the head for practically drooling over the Gryffindor Golden Boy.

"Malfoy, are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Draco answered his Potions partner in a manner that he hoped was casual after suddenly snapping out of his reverie.

"Are you sure?" Blaise asked in concern. "You seem a bit... flushed. Are you running a fever?"

Next thing Draco knew was Zabini placing the palm of his hand against his forehead to feel his temperature.

_Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! _

The feel of Zabini's hand against his skin sent shivers throughout his body. He just wanted to compress himself against the other boy's body and snog him senseless (he'd say 'shag', but he didn't really know how to go about that with a guy. And quite frankly, he really didn't want to know). Draco was struggling for breath when Blaise removed his hand and thoughtfully looked at him.

"I think you should see Madame Pomfrey" Blaise said. "Perhaps you have the flue."

"No, I'm fine. I-"

"You're Quidditch Captain!" Blaise drawled. "We need you tomorrow when we play Gryffindor. Healthy!"

"But-" Draco protested.

"_Sir_, permission to take Malfoy to the Hospital Wing?" Zabini shouted through the class, having all eyes suddenly raking towards Draco.

"Off course" Snape answered while he didn't even bother looking up from his notes.

Fuck! Draco really found it innerving to have everyone staring at him while he was as horny as a Hippogriff on heat. And you'd think that _that_ would have the same effect as a bucket of ice water, yet it strangely didn't turn him off. If not the opposite.

Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea to get out of the classroom after all.

"I can do it myself," he drawled at Blaise as he gathered his things and left the classroom, not noticing the set of brown eyes of a certain Head Girl following him from the front of the classroom with an interested frown.

After Draco had shut the doors to the classroom and had run to the other side of the corridor, he dropped his things and leaned against the wall. When he noticed that no one was about, he went to cup his erection through his pants. He was painfully hard and really couldn't go any further without relief. After only three superficial rubs through his pants Draco climaxed violently while biting his lip, so he wouldn't scream out in relief.

After the shudders of orgasm had gradually dimmed down Draco just wanted to cry out in frustration. Dammit, he had been _masturbating_ in the middle of the dungeon because he was too horny to move after being in close contact to _men_.

_MEN_!

This whole situation was so messed up that he wanted to beat himself up for being such a freak.

Malfoy was acting odd, Hermione mused as she was putting the final additions on her potion.

Well, odder than usual anyway.

He seemed rather distracted lately and had even left Potions under the pretence of being ill. Hermione actually thought he was more ill in the head than anything else. There was nothing sane about way he had barged into their common room last night. It looked as if he had taken a shower with his clothes on after he had outrun the Grim Reaper.

Not to mention the kiss.

When Hermione had come into the common room to retrieve one of her books, she definitely had not expected _that_ to happen.

Malfoy had kissed her.

_Malfoy_!

_Her_!

Her first instinct had been to scream 'EW! EW! EW!' and to go brush her teeth, but oddly enough she didn't feel like doing such a thing. He was a freakishly good kisser.

"_But it was Malfoy!_" she thought in dismay as she rasped her radishes rather roughly. "_I mean: EW! It's just... ew!_"

No, it still didn't feel 'ew'.

She didn't know what had gotten into Malfoy, but apparently it had had little to do with her, seeing as he practically had forgotten that she was there after he had released her lips. Now she actually felt a little embarrassed, because the whole time while he had been kissing her she had merely been gawking.

Well, what did he expect? Catching her off guard like that!

But still, it had been a damn good kiss and she rather had wanted to be a part of it. It had been over two years since her last kiss and even then, it hadn't been very sizzling. She had shared her first kiss with Victor before he had gone back to Bulgaria and she hadn't kissed anyone since. And even then she had only done it because she was curious about what kissing felt like.

Comparing that kiss to the one she had shared with Malfoy, Hermione had concluded that her kiss with Victor could at most be measured up to 'two birds pecking each other'.

Damn that Malfoy and his talented lips!

If only it hadn't been _him_. If only he hadn't been Head Boy! She didn't like living with him, she didn't like working with him and she didn't like the fact that he apparently saw her as some sort of kissing-toy. He was still as snotty as the day she had met him. She also knew that he actively disliked her, so for the life of her she couldn't understand why he would want to kiss her. If only she could just black out the information on _who_ it was that had given her that titillating kiss, she might not have to block the entire kiss out of her memory.

Throwing the baby away with the bathwater that is.

No, she also didn't want him to kiss him again. He might be a good kisser, but he was still a Malfoy, a Slytherin and a stupid prat. Just... Ew!

"No, still not 'ew'" she sighed as she threw the radishes in her boiling cauldron.

"_Damn_!" Ginny exclaimed as she dropped her fork with a clatter.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Look at Malfoy" Ginny said breathlessly, nodding in the direction of the Slytherin strutting through the Great Hall towards his seat at the lunch table.

"What about him?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"He's gorgeous" Ginny replied anxiously, a blush creeping unto her cheeks.

Hermione gaped at her friend in disbelief. Never before had Ginny uttered a single positive comment about Malfoy or his appearance. Granted, it wasn't uncommon for Hermione to hear another girl swooning over Draco Malfoy. He was one of the more attractive sort of the male species and had a grace of movement many girls didn't even have. Nevertheless, it was definitely an uncommon thing for Ginny to say such a thing, so Hermione found it quite odd that her friend was suddenly blushing madly at the sight of the snotty Slytherin in a manner that clearly exhibited signs of arousal.

Especially since Ginny was gay.

Draco was so screwed.

During lunch, he had found himself being summoned to Snape's office. Apparently the greasy bugger had been checking up on him to see if he had actually gone to see the medi-witch.

Which he hadn't.

Could you imagine _that_ consultation?

'_You see, lately I seem to be having some homosexual tendencies that get me so frisky I find myself masturbating in public places and ejaculating inside my pants. Do you have a pill for that by any chance?_'

Draco _so_ hadn't felt up for _that_.

So now, he had to answer to Snape.

As his Head of house was rambling on and on about the importance of tomorrow's match and how necessary it was for Draco to be in good health, Draco couldn't help but take notice to something else.

Snape wasn't _that_ ugly.

He had the whole 'dark, tall and handsome'-look going on, which was very appealing. If he would just take a shower once in a while he'd actually be shaggable. This made Draco wonder if the gossip would be true about Snape still being a virgin. Somehow, he suddenly doubted that. As he was listening to the man's rambling, Draco couldn't help but to become absolutely enthralled by the sound of his voice. Draco wondered if Snape could actually bring a person to orgasm just by making him or her listen to him.

"I can bottle fame!"

"What?" Draco asked with a frown, snapping out of his reverie. Apparently he had missed something.

"I can bottle fame, brew glory and put a stopper in death" Snape said in that trademark silky voice of his. Draco noticed that Snape suddenly had a strange gleam in his eyes. Almost predatorily. And the fact that he had leaned himself over Draco's chair, their faces only being inches apart, made it Draco feel like some sort of trapped animal.

"Excuse me?" Draco asked in a wavering tone of voice.

Snape didn't immediately answer. Draco felt the professor's eyes raking over every inch of his face. It was as if Snape was mapping him out. Draco couldn't help but wonder warily on _what_ he was mapping him out for. Next Snape leaned in and started whispering in Draco's ear.

"I can concoct potions that would save your beauty for all eternity, would defy old age and be saved from the decay of death" he finally answered in a tone of voice that was so sexy it should be illegal.

"O-kay" Draco said before he suddenly felt something wet enveloping his ear. Draco didn't have to think long before realising that it was Snape's tongue. Draco yelped and shoved his Head of house off him.

"I should go... practise Quidditch... match... tomorrow" Draco stammered while stumbling towards the door in a highly un-Malfoyish manner.

He spurted out of the office with his tail between his legs.

And oddly enough, this wasn't only a figure of speech.

"Oi, Malfoy! Watch where you're going!" Weasley shouted.

In his haste to get out of Snape's office Draco had collided with something.

Something that was a live human being.

Something that was The Boy Who Lived.

And now he found himself horizontally on top of said Boy Who Lived.

And it felt rather nice actually.

"Sorry" Draco said as he scrambled himself off the other boy.

If Draco hadn't been so traumatised about his encounter with Snape, he might have noticed that he had just apologised to the Gryffindor Golden Boy.

He might also have noticed the suspicious frown Hermione Granger gave him as he was running down the corridor.

And he might also have noticed the look of both shock, wonder and arousal a set of emerald eyes were burning into his back as he rounded a corner.

Or a couple of inches lower than his back, if you are a nitpicker and want to be exact.

End of chapter three

**Disclaimer:** The line about the 'two birds pecking each other' is a reference to an episode from 'The Gilmore Girls'.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to my reviewers: **

**hermyandron4evr:** I'm sorry if the slash squeaks you out. You'll have to wait a bit for the Het to kick in. But as they say: patience is a virtue. :)

**Hermione Double:** The mating season lasts for a month, so there's your answer. Perhaps it's a consolation that one chapter doesn't equal one day. ;)

**Queen of Serpents:** I went on vacation and I had exams, so I've been inactive for a while. And yes, your theory about Draco's sudden gay-ness is correct, as I will emphasize in chapter 5. You're getting ahead of me woman! And you'll have to wait for the yummy stuff. But I don't think you'll be bored. :) I like lots of sexual tension before the yummy stuff kicks in.

**Mandabella:** Thank a lot. But please, stop reading my sucky earlier works! :) I didn't really know what I was doing then, but I figure that I put too much effort in it to take it down now. Thanks for reviewing it though.

**Apparateawayhplivesagain:** Thanks. I think the bunny tail idea balances somewhere on the line between funny and ridiculous. I like to go for the first. :)

**Edit**: Shite! I just noticed that a bunch of reviews didn't make it to my mailbox. I already though the number on was larger than in my mail. Don't feel insulted that I didn't thank you, you'll get your shout-out's tomorrow. Sorry.

Chapter 4

"Hermione, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure Harry. What's up?" Hermione answered as she put her book down. Even though she had her own private quarters, she occasionally still liked to study in the Gryffindor common room. Just as long as there weren't many people around to bother her anyway. Privacy was great, but Hermione didn't like the thought of becoming alienated from her friends. Tonight everyone seemed to be out and about and it was just her and Harry.

"It's kind of embarrassing," Harry said in a whisper as he sat himself down in a chair next to her.

"You know you can talk to me about anything" Hermione assured him.

"You see, normally I'd talk to Ron about this sort of thing. But I don't think he'd be so open minded about this..." he trailed off.

"Is it a guy-problem?" Hermione asked.

"Sort of" Harry said.

"Just tell me. I won't tell anyone," Hermione pressed, now being quite interested. She _never_ got to hear about any guy-problems and was fairly curious. She, Ron and Harry were still as good of friends as they were the day they defeated the mountain troll, but puberty did get in the way of certain things. Harry and Ron limited themselves to consulting each other when it came to guy-things, things they didn't feel comfortable in sharing with Hermione. She respected that, but felt a bit left out. _She_ on the other hand wouldn't feel iffy in discussing her feminine problems with them. But it had been evident from very early on that they really didn't feel comfortable in listening to anything she had to say about that sort of thing. Hermione still vividly remembered the looks on their faces when in fourth year she had proudly announced to them that her period had finally come through. After that, they had not dared to make eye contact with her for over a week. So from then on, she had wisely ceased her attempts to male/female bounding.

"Okay" Harry said as he leaned closer to her so no one could hear him, not that anyone was around. "I need to ask you something. Have you ever... fancied a girl?"

"Me?" Hermione asked.

"Yes" Harry nodded.

"Fancied girls?"

"Yes"

"No. I mean, not _really_. I think some girls are pretty and/or interesting but nothing beyond that. But, you know, I'm human and have had some fantasies about certain people" she said, thinking about some daydreams she had had about Fleur Delacour during her fourth year, but you had to be both deaf and blind not to be attracted to the girl. And Hermione also had repeatedly caught herself letting her eyes wander to Lavender's chest, which had grown into quite a nice rack. But she supposed that that was more admiration than anything else.

"But I've never seriously considered dating one" Hermione continued. "I mean, I _could_. It wouldn't gross me out. But it would just be weird. Girls are too girly."

"Ah" Harry said, thinking about this information.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

Harry sighed.

"Do you fancy a guy?" Hermione asked.

"_No_!" Harry spat. "I mean, yes... I mean, no! Merlin, I don't know what I mean."

"If it's any consolation, it's normal to be confused about your sexual preferences at our age" Hermione said while patting Harry's head, which he had smacked it flat onto the table.

"Really?" he asked, raising his head again.

"Sure" Hermione said soothingly.

"But it just popped out of nowhere!" Harry said helplessly. "It's unsettling. I've never fancied blokes and now-"

"Do you still fancy girls?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah."

"And you also fancy guys?"

"Y- no."

Hermione frowned.

"I don't get it," she said.

"It's just _one_ guy really," he admitted. "And the weird thing is, now that I think about it, I really don't fancy him."

"Now you've lost me," Hermione said.

"I don't get it either."

"Would you consider dating him?" Hermione asked.

"Ew, no!" Harry said with a sour face.

"Would you consider kissing him?"

Harry shook his head, keeping that sour expression firmly into place.

"So let me get this straight: You don't want to date the guy, you don't want to kiss the guy, you don't even like him, yet he makes you question your sexual orientation?"

"Yes" Harry answered.

"How?"

"I came in close contact with him and... rather liked it."

"You got an erection."

"_Hermione_!" Harry yelled in shock.

"What?" Hermione asked. "Isn't it true?"

"Well yes" Harry admitted wile a blush crept on his face. "But you shouldn't say it."

"Fine, I'll never say ERECTION again" Hermione said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood a little. It was both annoying and endearing as to how her friends still regarded her as this innocent little girl who hadn't yet discovered the existence of hormones. But she supposed that had to be expected. It had taken them until fourth year to have it sink in that she was a _girl_. At this rate, she would probably be menopausal when they would finally realise that she was a girl who had as much wants and needs as any other.

"How long have you been sitting on this anyway?" she asked Harry.

"Only a day" Harry said. "But it has been confusing the hell out of me. Talking to you helped though. Don't you want to throw any embarrassing girl-talk my way to even the odds?"

Hermione grinned.

"Sure" she said. "There's this nasty itch that has been bothering me for a while. I had a yeast infection a while back so I think-"

"_Wow_! Stop! Never mind!" Harry shrieked.

"I'm just pulling your leg, Harry" Hermione chuckled.

Suddenly wheels started turning in her head.

It has only been bothering him for one day. Therefore, it must have happened yesterday.

Close contact? The incident in the corridor.

_Ding! Ding! Ding!_

"It's Malfoy isn't it?" Hermione suddenly asked.

Harry's deer-caught-in-headlights facial expression answered that question quite nicely.

"Oh Harry, I don't think it's you. Something very odd has been going on with Malfoy, but I just don't know what" Hermione said as she got up and marched towards the portrait hole. "But I intend to find out."

Halfway towards the exit she halted, turned around and went back to give Harry a hug.

"Thank for having a guy-talk with me" she said as she squeezed him tightly. "And I'll always love you even if you turn out to be gay and it isn't some trick Malfoy is pulling."

"Er- thanks" Harry stuttered as Hermione ran back towards the portrait hole and out into the hallway towards the library.

&&&&&

"-_and Ginny_ _Weasley scores! Another ten points to Gryffindor!_" the broadcaster's voice bellowed throughout the Quidditch field.

Where was that damn Snitch?! Draco really wanted to get this over with. It was damn uncomfortable to be sitting on a broom while sporting an erection. No matter how you positioned yourself or how many times you readjusted your pants, it still was damn painful.

He just wished that that damn Potter would stop circling about on his stupid Firebolt. Hasn't anyone ever noticed the double meaning of the sentence 'riding a broomstick'? Draco now noticed and it was accompanied with graphic pictures. Why did Potter have to look so damn hot with the wind blazing through his hair? And not to mention the leather. Now he knew why all the girls liked the Quidditch uniforms so much.

Damn hormones!

And the question on when Draco's seduction powers would be activating had also been answered.

Loud and clearly.

It had taken up most of Draco's willpower to crawl out of the foetal position he had placed himself in while hiding under the sink of his bathroom.

Snape had licked his ear!

He just hoped that it really had been because of his seduction powers or that would be twice as disturbing. By itself, it was enough to send a person off his rocker and into the closed ward of St. Mungo's.

_"-and Potter's got the snitch! Gryffindor wins!_"

"WHAT!?" Draco shrieked as cheers erupted from the stands around him. He looked towards the other end of the field and saw Potter proudly holding the Snitch, his team mates joining him in some sort of primal victory dance.

_Had Draco actually just spaced out and forgotten about the match?_

_Fuck_!

"Malfoy! What the hell happened?" Pucey shouted as the Slytherin team touched ground.

"I-" Draco stammered.

"Did you just _let_ them win?" Blaise asked crossly.

"_No I did not let them win_!" Draco shouted as he walked towards the castle, both angry at himself as at the rudeness of his teammates. He might have been at fault, but he still was a Malfoy and demanded respect.

"But you didn't even try to-" Crabbe pitched in.

"_Look_," Draco yelled as he twisted around and faced his peers, "I_ know this didn't go as planned, but I'm not going to grovel for your forgiveness. We lost... again. We'll deal... again. And-_"

Draco stopped ranting and took in the looks his angry teammates were giving him. They were looking at him oddly, as if he had just grown an extra head or something.

"What?" Draco asked them warily.

"You are so hot when you're angry!" Pucey said in awe.

"I-" Draco stammered.

"Do you already have a date to the end of the year dance?" Blaise asked eagerly.

"I-"

"I've got a real life Basilisk in my trunk!" Goyle said. "Want to come up to my room and see?"

"I-"

Draco did the only thing he could come up with.

He ran.

&&&&&

Draco slammed the door behind him as he entered his common room. He flinched as he turned around and came face to face with Granger, who had her arms crossed in front of her chest in a very determined way.

"Wha-? _Granger what the fuck are you doing_?" Draco shrieked as Hermione suddenly turned him over and pushed him against the wall face forward.

By Morgana's Bane, she was freakishly strong!

As he was trying to struggle away from her gip she bend him over and started tucking out his shirt.

Was she going to try and _rape him_?

Not to mention _how_?

Damn those fucking seduction powers!

Suddenly he heard her gasp and stop her assaults, yet still firmly keeping him in place.

"You really are a Veela!" she said breathlessly as she released him from her grip.

Draco turned around with a glare and was about to ask her how she knew, until it had sunken in.

The bunny tail.

Shit!

&&&&&

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

For anyone who absolutely hates slash and wants to skim those parts: There's a little scene in here that would qualify as slash, nothing mayor or descriptive, but I'm warning you guys so I wont offend anyone or lose any readers. Right after the second &&&&&&&&&&&&&& (the way I separate my scenes) Hermione shouts "Oh my God". You might want to start skimming there until she says "Malfoy, I-umpfff". Then you are clear. But I prefer it if you didn't skim though. :-)

Chapter 5

"How?" Hermione asked wide-eyed.

"I could ask you the same thing. How did you know?" Draco retorted. No one should have been able to see the tail unless he or she was looking for it. How could she possibly have suspected him of being a Veela if he's the only male one as of yet?

"You were acting very strange these past few days, so I looked up your behaviour in the library. It was obvious" she huffed... and lied. She had been in there for hours and had even missed the Quidditch game, before a book on Veela's had hit her on the head.

Literally.

They should really get some new bookcases.

"And what business is it of yours?" Draco drawled. He really didn't like people meddling into his affairs. Especially not some Gryffindor Muggleborn.

"It is when other people are suffering from the symptoms you don't seem to be able to control" she retorted.

"Like who?"

"Like the people you were obviously running away from" Hermione answered pointedly. "Finding your Veela-powers hard to control?"

"I wouldn't, if they weren't malfunctioning" Draco muttered. He really wasn't up for a verbal sparring contest right now. Snape had licked his ear, he had barely slept last night, he had just lost a match he had been dead set on winning and his housemates would probably want to curse him with an Unforgivable for being the cause of it.

"How so?" Hermione asked in a somewhat less angry tone of voice. She really couldn't keep up with being aggressive when her counterpart was practically pouting.

"They attract _men_" Draco admitted, something he probably wouldn't have done if he weren't having such a rotten day.

"You were expecting differently?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not gay so, _surprise surprise_, I expected to be able to seduce women" Draco answered sarcastically.

"Oh Malfoy" Hermione tutted. "Veela's are heterosexual creatures and –except for you- female. How can you expect biology to just change the rules for you?"

"It did when it decided to make me a male Veela" Draco pointed out.

"Well, there's nothing to do about that, now is there? Have you figured out who your mate is yet?"

"What does it matter?" Draco scoffed. "I can't mate. I can't sleep with women."

"Did someone drop you on your head as a child, or were you born stupid?" Hermione asked disbelievingly. "Your mate is obviously going to be a guy."

"No, it isn't."

"Stop being in denial!"

"I'm bloody well going to be in denial if I want to be!" Draco yelled. " What does it matter? I cannot sleep with girls and I will not sleep with guys! You are not forcing me to mate!"

"_Are you crazy? _Off course I'm not going to force you to mate" Hermione spat. "I just want to know who the poor sod is so he can be properly protected from you."

"Thanks very much!"

"I'm not joking" Hermione said. "If you think you have it bad now, think about what it's going to be once the mating-pull kicks in. Who says you'll be able to control yourself if your mate is ready and willing, which he will be because of your seduction powers."

"I told you: I'm not sleeping with men! Now leave me alone!" Draco said as he marched off towards his quarters to take a shower.

"Malfoy, where are you going?" Hermione spat as she started following him, but got the door slammed in her face. "I'm not finished! Malfoy? _Malfoy!?_"

Hermione grunted in defeat.

She had to find a way to make him listen!

Even if she had to go around the Great Hall and ask people to pitch in a Knut or two, hoping to save up a Galleon and Malfoy could afford to buy himself a clue.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Draco was pissed off.

Pissed of about many things.

For one he really disliked the fact that Granger now knew about his rather embarrassing situation. And apparently, she even wanted to meddle into it. As if Draco was going to let that happen.

The other thing he was pissed off about was pheasants.

_ Why were there pheasants? _

The only thing they did was eating and shitting.

The latter being Draco's biggest problem since he was currently scooping it up while in detention. Snape had ordered him to serve detention with McGonagall who was currently working on transfiguring pheasants with her second years. Apparently Draco had to be punished for ignoring Snape's instruction to consult the nurse and as a result had lost the Quidditch match. Draco figured that serving detention with Snape wouldn't nearly be as gruelling as with McGonagall, but the man hadn't even so much as made eye contact with him since that little incident in his office. Hell, even the order for detention had been sent to him by owl post.

As Draco reluctantly picked another pheasant out of its cage, he heard a sound coming from the doorway.

"Ah Mister Potter, glad you could join us" Professor McGonagall said sternly from behind her desk as she picked off her things and took off. "Please join Mister Malfoy in cleaning the pheasant cages. If you need me, I'll be in my office."

Great. Just what Draco needed. The close proximity of another male.

As if pheasant dung wasn't crappy enough.

Potter didn't seem too happy about it either. Yet it wasn't his usual 'o-crap-it's-Malfoy' look he was giving.

It was something else.

He was looking as if a bomb could go off at any moment and was afraid to move.

Well tough!

"Here Potter, hold this for me" Draco spat as he shoved the pheasant he was holding into Harry's hands and grabbed a sponge to clean the unoccupied cage.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

After a couple of hours of reading in the Gryffindor common room Hermione had decided to call it a night. She was on her way back towards her dorm when suddenly she heard a strange noise. She took a couple of steps back to look at what it was. She was Head Girl after all and had a license to meddle into things.

"_Oh my God!_" she shrieked as she had opened the door to the Transfigurations classroom and saw where the strange noise had been coming from. She had lost count on how many couples she had had to break up while kissing in the hallways or in deserted classrooms, so she had quite prepared herself for something in that fashion.

But she had not prepared herself for _this_.

It was Harry.

And it was Malfoy.

Against the wall of the Transfigurations classroom.

Kissing.

And touching.

And _rubbing_.

Draco had Harry pinned against the wall of the classroom. Harry didn't seem to mind though since he was feverishly clawing at Draco's back while Draco was exploring the interior of his mouth. Even from the other side of the room Hermione could see their tongues battling for dominance. It was as if they wanted to devour each other. Hermione's face turned beet red when she noticed the slow thrusting motions in which the two boys were quite clearly rubbing their erections against each other through their pants.

After Hermione had picked up her jaw from the floor, she spurted towards the pair.

"Malfoy, get off of him!" she ordered as she snagged Draco by his collar and pulled him off Harry.

"No!" she jelled, shoving Draco backwards as he tried to push her away and kiss Harry again. She went to Harry, who basically was a panting glob of mush against the wall, grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the door. Harry's lips were swollen and bruised, his shirt was wrinkled and partially undone and his hair was a complete and total mess.

In short, he looked well and thoroughly snogged.

"Go to bed" she said to him as she shoved him in the direction of Gryffindor tower. "Trust me. Just go!"

As she saw Harry wobbling away she turned back to deal with Draco.

"Malfoy, I-umpfff"

For the second time this week, Malfoy had caught her off guard and had kissed her. He shoved his tongue past the barrier of her lips, not even bothering to ask for permission, and feverishly started exploring her mouth. Good lord, it was as if he was looking to drain her of her life essence. Hermione felt her knees go wobbly and her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Even though he was Malfoy, and had just been kissing her best friend Harry, she still did not find it 'ew'. She snapped out of her little trance when suddenly she felt him rubbing his hardness against her thigh. She flinched and with a loud 'smack' Hermione quickly unclasped her mouth from Malfoy's.

"_Will you stop kissing me!_" she shrieked while panting feverishly as she quickly took a couple of steps back to put herself at safe distance from the frisky Slytherin.

"I just can't help it" Malfoy yelled in agony before flopping himself in a chair and burying his face in his hands. He actually was visibly shacking from the pent up sexual frustration. "You're the only set of lips here so what else was I supposed to do?"

"Oh, I don't know. Ask first?" Hermione said sarcastically while rubbing the back of her hand against her mouth to get rid of some saliva. "Was that what it was with Harry? A convenient set of lips."

Hermione didn't immediately get an answer. Instead, she saw Malfoy sliding his fingers through his hair and tugging at it in what seemed to be anguish. She saw him burying his hands in his face again and...

_Was Malfoy crying!? _

"Granger, please don't let me shag Potter!" he pleaded her in a strained tone of voice. "I don't want to, but I know I won't be able to stop myself. If I don't pounce him, he will pounce me and dammit I cannot help but want him to. And if it happens I know I'll be bottom. _Please do not let me be bottom_!"

Hermione sighed in both comprehension and desperation.

Harry was Malfoy's mate.

Bugger.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

End of Chapter 5

A/N: There are a bunch of people who seem to be squeaked about the slash content in this fic. I just want to say that I intend to warn people for any scenes they might not enjoy reading, like I did here. But _please_ don't take all this to seriously. It's just a story. A fluffy story. I'm not here to shock or make statements you're not interested in hearing, I'm just here to amuse. I really do have written genuine slash before, but I wouldn't put this under the Het section if it didn't fit under it. Thanks for your attention. Turns microphone off and walks off stage

**Thanks for the reviews:**

**Dracolov, LMNUK, constructive reviewer, Roja-Cyd, MagicFairyDuster, Alenor, Zaralya, yanely1167, English-Foxlette, darkbaby22, charmed piper, slyswn28, LunarViolet6190, LuminescentWings0127, sw33tdohtee,**

**o0-ireth-0o:** blushes**** thanks for all the praise. Am I converting you to Slash by any chance? :-)

**Munku-JGSPTV:** ROFL! This story is confusing everyone. First I get 'Oh my God, is this Slash?' and now you go 'Is this Het?'. I just don't seem to be able to please anyone. :-) I'm sorry hun, it's Het. There's some Slash in it, but not that much. Next to Hermione/Draco, Harry/Draco is my principal pairing. Perhaps this story is my subconscious way of saying: stop it with all the Het and write some Slash again. ;-)

**Undying at Midsummer:** My lips are sealed. But you know, the story is not _that_ long, so I suppose you won't have to wait all that long. _And now I remember who you are!_ You're the Kiwi from New Zealand! :-)

**Male-chan**: Thanks. And thanks for your review of Melting the Ice on I don't know what it is, but I have this thing for sloppy sex-scenes that turn out okay in the end.

**Wow**: Dracolov has mailed me about it. I think I'll enter. Never entered a contest before, so that might be a fun experience. ;-)

**Mandabella**: _Good God woman! You're everywhere!_ :) Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I loved them! And I still think there's a difference between imagining McGonagall's sex life and Lucius/Narcissa's. I wouldn't mind seeing them getting it on on in the middle of the Great Hall. :-) When I've finished the story, I might have to check out that story of yours. (No, I'm not pervy!) ;-)

**Roja-Cyd: **No, just because Hermione's a girl doesn't mean she's feeble. And Draco urgently needs to do some push ups or something. ;-)

**Hermione Double**: I think this chapter answered your question. He only influences men and lesbians, and Hermione is neither.

**Tinuviel Storm:** The bunny tail thing was one of the first side effects to being a Veela I came up with (except for the gay thing). It's kind of stupid really. I was talking on the phone to a friend and I asked if she knew any good side effects. She said she was thinking something in the lines of a tail and I suggested a bunny-tail as a joke. After a while, the idea grew on me and I kept it.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

So, Draco Malfoy had chosen Harry Potter as his mate.

Insane, right?

Not really, Hermione mused after she had thought things through. As a Veela, Malfoy had essentially been looking for a mate who was strong, good-looking, powerful and fertile and of good breeding. Harry was basically all those things and more. Hermione couldn't vouch for the fertile-thing, but assumed all was fine in that department since Draco wouldn't have approved of Harry otherwise. Not that fertility was an issue in this case, neither of the two having a womb and all.

After Malfoy had retreated to his dorm, Hermione had hasted herself up to Gryffindor tower to try and find Harry to see how he was doing.

Not very good.

Hermione had had to sit next to him for over a half an hour, soothingly rubbing his back while he was deeply breathing in and out into a plastic bag.

She really couldn't blame her friend for hyperventilating after what had transpired just then. The poor boy's view about himself and the world around him had been turned upside down.

For about the umpteenth time.

Harry's reality had been: he fancied girls, Draco Malfoy was a royal pain in the ass and the first guy who would dare to come up and kiss him would get punched in the face.

And now that reality had been changed over night. All Hermione wanted to do was tell Harry that Malfoy was a Veela so he wouldn't have to go through this identity crisis. Even though she wasn't a professional consultant, she still felt that she had to respect Malfoy's privacy. All she could tell Harry was "It's not your fault" over and over again. But without any hard data, that didn't bring much solace. Eventually Harry had dozed off and Hermione had left to get some sleep herself.

She really wanted to, but she just couldn't bring herself to blame Malfoy for this messed up situation. It wasn't his fault that he was a part-Veela. Still, thinking about the way she had seen him molesting Harry last night -even if Harry had been more than a willing recipient- was nothing less than disturbing. Harry was her best friend and she had honestly never truly regarded him as a sexual creature. She had never even seen him kissing a girl (she knew he had, but had never been there to witness it) so why would she?

And last night she had walked in on him passionately snogging Draco Malfoy.

And the fact that Hermione had found it one of the most arousing sights she had ever laid eyes on did not make the situation any better. Now Hermione had finally come to the understanding as to why lots of men liked to fantasize about two women in erotic scenarios. And the knowledge that she had always considered such men to be rather sad individuals hadn't made her feel any better either.

Harry might have been like a brother to her, but she wasn't blind and knew that her friend had grown into a handsome young man. And Malfoy was two extremes all wrapped up into one person: extremely rotten on the inside and extremely beautiful on the outside. She liked to pretend that he was as ugly as he was within, but he was gorgeous and she knew it.

And sadly so did _he_.

At least one good thing had resulted out of last night's debacle. Malfoy had now finally accepted Hermione's help, which he truly needed. She supposed that he first had to be pushed to the limit before realising the magnitude of the situation.

Him shoving Harry up the wall in the middle of detention apparently had done the trick.

Even though Hermione had finally gotten her way, it was only now that she truly had come to the understanding on what she had gotten herself into exactly. To stop Malfoy from randomly pouncing on Harry she would be forced to stalk him 24/7 until the end of the month.

Jolly!

Malfoy might be willing into letting her accompany him, but he was still a ferret-faced brat and not exactly a joy to be around. This was something that had already become evident on the first morning after their agreement. The boy was complete and utterly emotionally retarded!

"If you want me to be able to help prevent you from jumping Harry or anyone finding out about you being a Veela, you have to tell me exactly what you're going through!" Hermione pressed.

"I already did" Draco insisted while he was pacing around their common room.

"I don't believe you" Hermione scoffed. The things Malfoy had shared with her had been textbook and vague. He was keeping things from her and she knew it. "For instance, why did you suddenly need to borrow my 'Sleekeazy's Hair Potion'? You have curls, don't you?"

"I don't have curls!" Draco sneered.

"Are you sure?" Hermione retaliated. "So you won't mind if I were to pore this glass of water on your head to see? I could dry it with a flick of my wand afterwards, no harm done."

"You wouldn't dare!" Malfoy said while raising his head proudly in defiance in a manner only he could.

"I would" Hermione replied truthfully. She really would.

A few more moments passed where the one tried to stare the down other one, till...

"Fine, I have curls" Draco relented. "Big deal! They just appeared one morning and I couldn't go out looking like that, now could I?"

"You've got curls?" Hermione snorted in merriment, having a mental picture of Malfoy with hair like a blonde Shirley Temple.

"It's not funny!" Draco spat.

"Jeez Malfoy, have a sense of humour" Hermione sighed. "It's probably just a result of your hormones acting up. So what else haven't you been mentioning to me?"

"Nothing" Draco replied defiantly.

Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Why did she always have to be so damn _nice_?

Lets face it, if Harry wasn't involved in this she still wouldn't have let Malfoy hanging like this. If Hermione had never gotten the reason why people called her a goody-goody, she well understood now.

On the other hand, spending time with Malfoy was a unique opportunity. Following the steps of the first known Male Veela during mating season is a notion biologists would drool over. Hermione just couldn't help herself in gloating over the fact that she was the first to see, even though she had to put up with Ferret Boy to do so.

"Fine then" Draco spat as he flopped himself on the sofa. "You _really_ want to know every single embarrassing little detail that comes with being a Veela? _Fine_! In a nutshell: I have a tail, I have curls, I'm randy as hell, I've got a constant concealing charm on my pants because several boy scouts could camp inside my trousers and I've been jacking off for an average of 20 times a day. Off course that was only until I found out that Potty is my mate, as of which I seem to have started suffering from ejaculatory incompetence. Anything else?"

"Does that mean you-?"

"Can't get off_, y_es," Draco grunted. If he had thought that wanking over 20 times a day was rough, he hadn't considered the idea of not being able to. If he couldn't get an orgasm, masturbation just made the whole thing worse. Getting to the edge and not being able to get his sexual release was worse than torture.

"Right" Hermione said, while a little blush had crept unto her cheeks. "But how do you _feel_?"

"Dammit Granger, you're not going to force me to talk about my _feelings_ are you?"

"It's important!"

"That's such a girly thing to say," he said mockingly.

"Oh please!" Hermione said scornfully. "There's nothing wrong with a man who talks about his feelings."

"Alright, you win!" Draco said in mock-defeat. "I _feel..._ that I'm hungry and want to go to breakfast."

Hermione rolled her eyes in contempt.

"Smart Ass!" she huffed.

It appeared that Hermione was going to have a long day...

"My ass is indeed smart, but you should see my _brain_" Draco said sarcastically as he started walking towards the portrait hole.

A _very_ long day.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

For convenience sake, Draco and Hermione had seated themselves together for breakfast. They had placed themselves at a secluded area of the Slytherin table, since Draco had absolutely refused to sit at the Gryffindor one. Hermione had informed her friends that she and Malfoy had some important things to discuss in regard of their duties as Head Boy and –Girl. They had given her their sympathies and thankfully hadn't questioned her explanation.

Malfoy was absentmindedly chewing his food until suddenly his attention seemed to be caught by something behind Hermione. Hermione found the sight to be quite amusing. It was like watching a dog reacting to a whistle that humans couldn't hear.

"Who is she?" Malfoy asked with narrowed eyes.

Hermione turned around in her seat to see whom Malfoy had been referring to. She was surprised to note that he was apparently talking about Luna Lovegood, who had just joined her classmates at the Ravenclaw table.

"That's Luna Lovegood" Hermione said as she turned back to Draco. She was a little taken aback when she noticed that his eyes were still fixated on Luna in a gaze that bordered on murderous.

"Why?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"I don't like her" Draco all but growled.

"You don't even know her" Hermione stated dumbfounded.

"I don't care" Draco spat as he went back to eating his food.

Hermione suppressed the urge to ask him for an explanation since Malfoy seemed to be rather pissed off all of the sudden. Still, she found it rather peculiar that Draco had just immediately declared his dislike for Luna after spotting a glimpse of her from the other side of the Great Hall. Granted, Hermione herself wasn't all too fond of the girl, but at least she had enough information to base it on. They were just too different to start out with. Luna had her head in the clouds while Hermione was a girl whose two feet were firmly set on the ground. They would never be the best of friends, but Hermione respected Luna's opinions and could deal with her company. Whatever Draco's problem was with Luna, it obviously had something to do with the Veela-part of him.

Then suddenly Draco dropped his cutlery and stood up from his seat.

"_Malfoy, where are you going?_" Hermione hissed at him, warning bells going off inside her head.

When Malfoy didn't answer her, she quickly got up, ran after him and went to stand in front of him.

"_What are you doing?_" she asked anxiously when she noticed that he had started to approach the Gryffindor table. When it seemed that he wasn't at all bothered about Hermione being in his way, she saw herself forced to walk backwards while hovering in front of him.

"Marking my territory" Malfoy growled.

Hermione's eyes widened at the comprehension of what that meant.

"Oh, no you're not!" Hermione stated firmly and then did something rash that neither of them had expected.

She jumped on his back.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Jumping unto Malfoy's back in the middle of the Great Hall didn't exactly prove to be the most thoughtful of strategies. But it was the only thing Hermione had been able to come up with while being put on the spot, so she was just going to work with what she had.

"_Granger, what are you-_ umpff?" Draco said as Hermione suddenly covered his mouth with her one hand and enclosed his eyes with the other.

"This is exactly the thing what I'm here for: keeping you from making an ass out of yourself" she said as she tried not to give in to Draco's attempts to throw her off his back. Hermione also selectively ignored the fact that the entire Hogwarts population was currently monitoring their Head Boy and -Girl's strange antics with great merriment.

"Now, go to the right" she whispered, and was replied with a grunt in refusal.

"I said _right_!" Hermione ordered as she hit her heals against Draco's leg, as one would do to spur on a horse. Draco gave up and did as told, wobbling his way out of the Great Hall. Right after she had said that her lips quirked into a smirk. She noted that she quite liked it this way. Hermione in control and Draco mute, as it always should have been if it were a perfect world. If this were permanent, she would actually consider keeping him as a pet to carry her around like a mule.

After a good twenty steps, Hermione removed the hand that blocked Draco's vision.

"Go to our dorms" she instructed.

Even though Malfoy's muteness was refreshing, Hermione was very curious by nature and just couldn't help herself from asking him a question.

"Mind telling me what that was all about?" Hermione asked as she finally removed her hand from Draco's mouth.

"Mind getting off my back?" Draco asked angrily in reply.

"Do you always have to answer a question with a question?" Hermione asked while she wrapped both her arms casually around his neck.

"Do you?" Draco spat.

"Stop being so annoying!" Hermione said in irritation. "You were going to do something stupid and I saved you from doing so! I know you couldn't help what you were doing, but I could do with some support."

"I can't control the way I was born!" Draco said while hooking his arms around Hermione's legs to relieve some of her weight from his back.

"Just like I've been telling you for almost seven years," Hermione said pointedly.

"What?"

"A person can't help it if he or she is born as a Veela, a Pureblood, a Muggleborn, a Muggle, a Squib, a Kneazel, a Krumplehorned Snorkack or what not" she said wisely.

"A Krumplehorned what?" Draco asked in confusion. "Oh wait, this is one of those things where I should be learning something isn't it?"

"Well, are you?"

"No!" Draco huffed while blatantly refusing to see her point, which contradicted with every value he was thought. Nevertheless, his own line of thinking had never put himself in the negative light, a manner in which he really didn't like to think of himself. But neither did he like to be proven wrong.

So he found himself in a bit of an impasse on that account.

"Oi, where are you going?" Hermione asked when suddenly Draco rounded a corned that she knew led to a detour.

"We can't go there," Draco said warily.

"Why not?" Hermione asked.

"There's a bathroom there."

"So?"

"They smell" Draco said with a disgusted face.

"Off course they smell" Hermione said. "They're bathrooms!"

Draco turned his head and gave her a look that was basically a mimes way of saying 'Are you stupid?'

"Veela's have a heightened sense of smell," he said while pointing at his nose. "I can't go past a bathroom without wanting to hurl."

"Right" Hermione sighed. "Why is that anyway?"

"What?" he asked.

"The heightened sense of smell?" Hermione asked. "How does that help during mating season?"

"Do you have any idea what smell can give you for information?" Draco said. "It's uncanny how much odour can cling to a person's body. You can wash and wash and wash but it's still there. It tells you things. I _know_ things"

"You know things?"

"Yes."

"Like what?" Hermione asked.

"I know that all girls from fifth year on get their period at the same time as the girls they share their dorm with" Draco said.

"I know" Hermione said. "Women who've lived together for a long period of time often have synchronised menstrual cycles. So... you can actually smell that?"

"It's quite easy to smell blood," Draco said offhandedly while Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I also know that Professor Vector has had a bad case of the runs last week, that that Finch-Fletchly chap wanks an average of seven times a day and that Parvati Patil uses perfume with animal pheromones in it."

Hermione chuckled at this. Parvati really was the type of person to mess around with crap like that.

"And I also know who fancies who" Draco continued. "Pheromones are all over the place, let me tell you that. And there are surprisingly many gay people here. Sometimes I just want to smack that Creevy-idiot over the head and order him to tell his girlfriend to shove off."

"Why should he do that?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"She isn't even able to give him sweaty palms" Draco huffed. "But you should smell him when he's looking at McMillian. Whew!"

"Creevy's gay? Really?" Hermione asked, but then remembered the boy's odd fascination with Harry and she actually wasn't all that surprised.

Suddenly a thought occurred to her.

"Was that what just happened in the Great Hall?" Hermione asked while she tried to turn her head so she could see Malfoy's reaction. "You smelled something?"

Draco just groaned in reply.

"I just flipped out a bit, that's all" he said. Draco still felt really uncomfortable in talking about his sudden fascination for Harry Potter. And the excuse that it was only physical didn't relieve any of the discomfiture. Another thing that was disconcerting was the fact that the only person who knew about his current debacle had the uncanny ability to figure things out with minimal information.

"Did you smell that Luna fancies Harry?" she asked.

"Hm" Draco grunted in compliance. He had been watching Potter's seat from the moment he had sat himself down, not being able to turn his gaze away. When that Lovegood-person passed by Potter's seat Draco could smell the girl's excitement spiralling from across the other side of the room. With that, Draco suddenly had had this incredible urge to mark Potter as his for all to see, especially miss What's-Her-Name. It was quite unsettling for him to realise that he had quite the possessive streak, Veela blood or not. If he were to catch someone making a move on his mate, he wouldn't hesitate to claw his or her eyes out. Therefore, Lunana –or whatever- would do better to keep her hands to herself.

"So, what else can you smell?" Hermione asked. She had been quite surprised to hear Luna's apparent affection for Harry, never having noticed anything to remotely indicate that. But Luna is... well, _Luna_. So she was inclined to believe Draco and that supersensitive nose of his. She also wasn't going to press this matter any further since all it would do was get Draco pissed off again. And Hermione really didn't want to have him marching back into the Great Hall to disembowel Luna or pounce on Harry while she was still clasped to his back.

As Draco walked on, he couldn't help but become aware that it actually felt good in being able to talk to someone about this. He could pretend that Granger was just following him around, but he knew very well that he depended on her. Not just for his physical well-being, but also his mental one. He didn't really want to, but the thought that he _could_ talk to someone felt rather comforting. Even though he hadn't actually said much yet, he really had never talked this openly to another person before. He'd never say it out loud, but this whole thing was quite scary. Hell, his whole self-image had been shattered and he was just supposed to be able to carry on as if nothing has happened? Yesterday he had even cried.

Draco Malfoy had _cried_.

_ In public!_

In front of a _Mudblood_.

But then again he had never had this many new things to deal with all in one go. Being a Veela in mating season was like going through puberty all over again in an accelerated speed. He had always found it rather silly that people needed to talk about their experiences during puberty. _He_ never did. Mentioning your worries and weaknesses made you vulnerable.

He has never really had many worries in his life, his pampered upbringing shielding him from many difficulties conventional families had to deal with. But now Draco found himself in a position in which he had never felt more vulnerable in his life and for some reason wanted to get his troubles off his chest. And besides, Granger was to much of a goody-goody to betray his trust by blabbing. If she wanted to know what he was going through he was just going to just answer her questions.

Reluctantly off course.

"I also know who's shagging who... and where... and how," Draco continued.

"Really?" Hermione asked.

Draco nodded as he marched up the set of stairs that led to the next floor, careful not to topple over backwards from the excessive weight.

"People can rinse their mouths or other cavities all they like, I can still smell semen and natural lubrication from a mile away," he explained.

"Ew!" Hermione replied.

"I know" Draco said. "But you get used to it."

In all honesty Draco had been thoroughly disgusted at first by all the odours.

So many crappy smells!

People should brush their teeth more often. And hasn't anyone heard of deodorant? And on top of that, people are constantly farting all over the place.

Even girls!

Draco quite liked to pretend that they didn't do that, that they had some sort of magical digestion system that didn't come with smelly unpleasantness.

He couldn't do that now, now could he.

But as he said, he got used to it. It was either 'suck it up' or 'go insane', so Draco picked the first.

And besides, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

He just hoped that Granger would be civil enough to keep all fumes inside until she had climbed off his back.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

End of Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: The line 'My ass is smart, but you should see my brain' is dedicated to my friend An, who was so nice as to say that to me when I called her a smart ass.

**A little warning:** the next person who asks me again if/when/how this is going to be a Draco/Hermione story will get a piano dropped on his/her head! Mind you, these chapters aren't just fillers before the 'good stuff' comes along. If these things didn't happen, neither would the Draco/Hermione pairing.

**Thanks for your reviews!**

slyswn28, MagicFairyDuster, sw33tdohtee, hermyandron4evr, charmed piper, dracolov, Alenor, fallenRain27, Hermione Double, WriterLady1031, Undying at Midsummer, yanely1167, MagicFairyDuster

**Queen of Serpents:** About the 'jelled' error: I'm afraid I have to pull the "I'm not English and the story isn't Beta'd"-card again. I'll try to correct it when I have the chance. And yes, the story is on AFF too, but so far nothing is different from this one. When the juicy bits pop in, I'm going to put up a big notice to send everyone over there. :-) Not that much Harry/Draco juiciness though, although I do understand your fascination with two boys snogging each other to death. For Harry/Draco snogs/shags/whatever, you'll have to consult my other fics. ;-)

**Mandabella:** Yes, I am a Veela. My magic works through the Internet. :-)

**Male-chan:** Don't you see the piano hanging over your head? ;-) And I would have put it in the summary, but there just isn't any room for it.

**Munku-JGSPTV:** 'The chaos it causes amongst us all increases the fun'? _I think it's turning my hair grey!_ ;-) And trust me, Harry's 'ending' will increase my disgruntled reviews. I'm not saying what will happen, all I'm saying is that I've done it to him before. And people keep disliking it even though I think it's one of the most cannon things in my fics. And therefore I keep doing it. :-)


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: This chapter is rather short. Sorry. It just worked better when separated from chapter 8 (which is longer!).

Chapter 7

The next few days went by without much complication. It wasn't perfect, but at least Malfoy hadn't forced Hermione to jump him again. But Hermione noted that Malfoy's supersensitive smell was becoming increasingly bothersome. Several times a day she would see his head suddenly snap up while having this strange awareness in his eyes. That was Hermione's cue to drag him out of there, for Harry was coming near. She had also been forced to distract several people so they would not approach Malfoy and consequentially would be influenced by his seduction charms. Luckily not many did. The ones who had already been subjected to Malfoy's seduction powers were safely avoiding him, since they probably were as confused by their own emotions as Harry was.

Hermione did have a very hard time in trying to find different subjects to change conversations with. Whenever people started asking her on _why exactly_ she had jumped Malfoy in the middle of the Great Hall, she had to find a way to draw them away from the topic.

People were probably thinking that she wanted to become a meteorologist, because whenever they saw her Hermione would promptly redirect the conversation towards the weather.

And it was also becoming rather clear that Malfoy was truly starting to suffer through this whole thing.

His body was overheated.

Literally.

He was burning up as if it was a heat wave, which it really was not. It was still rather chilly for May and this meant something when a person who lived in England made that statement. While everyone was wearing jumpers and woollen socks, Malfoy was strutting about in light T-shirts and still was complaining that it was too hot.

Which he did, to Hermione's annoyance.

_ A lot._

When exactly had Malfoy transformed into a chatterbox? If it had not been for his good looks Hermione reckoned that she would not be able to sit this out. They were a nice distraction when he was ranting again and she did not care enough to listen. Moreover, the T-shirts that tightly hugged Malfoy's muscular upper body were a vast improvement to the vests and pullovers. He also had this constant sweaty sheen covering his pale flesh and had a small blush layering his cheeks. Hermione had never seen his skin showing any form of colour before, so she couldn't help but openly gaze at him from time to time. He would actually look adorable if it was not for the predatorily lusty look that seemed to be permanently lodged into his eyes. His facial expression was still as cold and stoical as ever, but his stormy grey eyes told a different tale.

Like when someone's stomach would start to growl when it needed nourishment, Malfoy's body needed his mate and uttered its annoyance. Not in growling, but in sleep deprivation. For the past couple of nights Malfoy had been suffering from insomnia and got quite restless during the nights. During the days, he was also getting increasingly touchy due to sleep deprivation.

Hermione had to figure out a way to get him to sleep.

The sooner the better, because Malfoy was not very thoughtful when it came to being quiet so other people could sleep. Hermione had been forced to confiscate that annoying tennis ball of his, which he insisted on bouncing up against the wall with a loud 'thud' for hours on end!

Why would he do that? _Why_?

Boys!

Hermione actually had an idea, but it was quite risky and she would need Harry's help with its execution. When she had first presented her idea to Harry, he had not been for it. But Hermione then pushed, pushed, pushed... begged, pleaded, and nagged.

And got her way.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Draco was lying in his bed, desperately trying to sleep. He knew it was useless, but he was so tired that he just couldn't help but to try and let his mind drift off. He just couldn't help but think about what his father would say about all this. His son was not only actively pursuing a sexual relation with a boy, but with The-Boy-Who-Lived. Draco reckoned that this would be any Death Eater's worst nightmare.

Draco had always worshipped his father and had wanted to be like him when he grew up, to be feared and respected. Since he was a small boy Draco had actively tried to follow his father's example and had consequentially adopted his belief system. When Lucius had been sent to prison, Draco fell into a preverbal black hole. He had always regarded his father as infallible. Voldemort had been proven fallible, but his father hadn't. He had always been able to get away with anything.

With Lucius gone to prison, that theory had been shattered and Draco had lost the example of what he wanted to be later in life. Suddenly he had to figure out for himself who he wanted to be and what he believed in. He had bordered on suffering from an actual depression when the thought came to him that he might want different things than he had always thought he wanted. He wasn't the miniature version of his father, something most people and even he himself had believed. Being his own person had been a very scary thing for Draco, yet he doubted that anyone noticed it. He never actively made any changes. He just stopped talking about things he felt different about. Not that he minded if anyone knew, but he just didn't care for sharing his inner turmoil with anyone. Draco had quickly concluded that he didn't give a shit about the war. He wasn't against Voldemort, he just wasn't _for_ him. And neither was he suddenly rooting for Potty and Dumbledore.

He just couldn't give a rats ass.

He didn't give a rats ass about a lot of things.

Turns out Draco didn't have all that many outspoken opinions as he thought he had.

He even used the term 'Mudblood' with far less contempt in his voice than it used to possess. And having been forced to spend this much time with Granger, who turned out not to be _all that_ bad, had him even contemplating on dropping the term all together. These days Draco's reality wasn't as black and white as it used to be, it was a nice stonewash colour of grey.

A knock on his bedroom door caught Draco's attention and he slightly turned his head to see what Granger wanted. He was more than surprised to see that it wasn't Granger who was coming to pester him about being too noisy (which for once he wasn't), but that it was in fact the very person she had been trying to keep him away from for the past two weeks.

"Potter?" Draco frowned as he caught sight of the Gryffindor standing in the doorway of his bedroom. Neither Draco nor Hermione had ever invited anyone into their private quarters, so it was more than unusual to have Potter standing in Draco's bedroom. Especially since it was _Potter_.

"Hermione has let me in," Harry said as he approached Draco's bed.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked worriedly, vividly remembering what had happened last time they had been alone together.

Now there also was a bed involved.

A bed where Potter had now sat himself down upon.

A bed that Draco currently held occupied.

"I'm being a pushover," Harry casually stated as he flopped his shoes off. "Now lay on your side with your back towards me and shut up."

"Don't order me what to do!" Draco spat. Who did he think he was, barging into his bedroom and starting to give him orders? If Potter was thinking that he could treat him like one of his groupies just because he had had the privilege to feel the inside of Draco's mouth, he had another thing coming.

"Do you _want_ to get some sleep?" Harry asked pointedly as he turned his head to glare at Draco. "Then do as I said."

Sleep? _Sleep_! Precious sleep! Oh... _no_! No! No! No! He wasn't going to let Potter just order him around like that, even if it were give him a bit of shuteye. Not to mention _how?_ How can Potty-boy possibly know more about his problems than...?

"Oi!" he yelped as Potter suddenly laid himself down next to him and pushed Draco over to his side.

Draco wanted to struggle back.

He really did.

But then Potter spooned up behind him, wrapped his arms around Draco's waist and _it felt so damn good_!

It felt so good that Draco could just drool all over his pillow like a baby that was falling asleep in it's mother's arms.

Which he did.

The drooling not excluded.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

End of chapter 7

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**Alenor, Soul-Dead-Dragon, tHePuRpLeLuVeR, Undying at Midsummer, mione-xavier, Dizzydragon, savvyfairy, charmed piper, Hermione Double, Emmy says, Makalani Astral, baily89, MagicFairyDuster**

**Piepiekoh**: Sssshhtt!!!!

**Munku-JGSPTV:** Except for maybe the scene in the morning where Draco woke up with his 'little problem', the R is yet to come. And the absolute _worst _pairing is Harry/Dumbledore. I mean, Dumbledore might be nice and all, but... just... 'ew'! And don't worry, I think there's still a scene to come that you might like. cough Chapter 9 cough ;-)

**Male-chan**: About the piano: I was referring to my A/N in the previous chapter. Too many people asking the same damn question! The people on AFF have been threatened to wake up with a horse head in their bed if they asked me again. Mental scarring is so much harder to get rid off. ;-)

**tweetygurl88:** Disrespectful? Wasn't _I_ the one who was talking about bodily fumes? :-)

**mandabella:** I wish I could tell you that I'm as 'quick of wit' as I am on paper. Sadly, most of the time I am not. People do tell me that I have a dry sense of humour, but I suppose that that's mostly accidental. Same thing with smut, I can write the raunchiest of sex-scenes, but if you were to make me read them aloud my face would be as red as a tomato. I suppose in that aspect writing is a lot like acting, you can hide behind your characters.

**slyswn28:** Before COS came out I read this article in a magazine where they described Colin as a 'latent homosexual'. I though that was funny... and rather plausible. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid who played Colin, if for instance someone in his class would have read that. :-)

**hermyandron4evr:** A standing ovation for your cleverness. :-)

**o0-ireth-0o:** What? You could smell that? _Seriously_? That's just... _how_? And about slash... I know how you feel. When I first was acquainted with the world of fanfiction, it hadn't even occurred to me that authors would be pairing up people who obviously didn't belong together. When I stumbled upon a Harry/Draco story, I went like 'What the Hell? _That's not pretty_!' Lol! In my defence, it was rather unconvincingly written. But then I came across a smutty Remus/Sirius story (I think it was called 'The Christening') and suddenly found myself drooling over the keyboard. All of the sudden, I understood what Slash was all about. :-)

**Queen of Serpents:** Hadgril? What is that, a kitchen tool? Lol! And Hermione doesn't fancy Draco yet, so kissing him would have been a somewhat odd decision. Tisk tisk! You have a pervy, _pervy_, mind! And I refuse to see the irony in the fact that this statement came from a person who writes adultfanfiction! I refuse! ;-)


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

When Draco woke up the next morning, he quickly noted that several things were wrong.

Firstly: He had insomnia, how could he possibly be 'waking up'?

Secondly: Who's hand was it that was comfortably laying on top of his hip?

Oh right, Potter's.

Okay then... Thirdly: Why has Draco not pounced on him yet, or vice versa? The last time Draco had encountered Potter the mating pull had been irresistible. He would have let Potter take him right there, up against the classroom wall, if it hadn't been for Granger's interruption. Bless her for it, by the way. So what happened?

Lastly: Why doesn't Potter smell like Potter.

_Why does he smell like Granger? _

"Granger?" Draco asked the person laying behind him.

"Shhhht" he got in reply. "Go back to sleep".

"Granger, what exactly are you doing in my bed?" Draco asked the Gryffindor who, as Draco could see after turning unto his other side, laid next to him in what had been Potter's clothes.

"Helping you to sleep" Hermione answered with a yawn. "It helped didn't it?"

While she tried to stifle her yawn, Draco leaned in and thoroughly sniffed Hermione's face.

"_Polyjuice potion_" Draco smirked after recognising the distinct aroma.

How could he have missed that? Polyjuice potion does not only mimic the person's looks, but also his or her smell. Granger had known that Potter couldn't approach him without endangering himself, so she had taken his place in giving Draco the physical contact his body needed while fooling his senses with Polyjuice potion. Clever little Witch.

Hermione stared back at him with wide eyes after having watched Malfoy sniffing her face. First he had grown a bunny tail and now he was sniffing her like a puppy?

Every day he was turning more and more into some sort of cute little animal.

Hermione couldn't help but to take in the appearance of her bed partner. Malfoy's usually impeccable hair was a bit muzzled up, giving him a boyish look that Hermione hadn't even seen when she had known him while still being a little boy.

Why did she suddenly have trouble breathing?

It positively had nothing to do with the fact that she was currently sharing a bed with one of the best looking young men at Hogwarts.

It also wasn't because her arm was now loosely wrapped around his bare waist, his shirt having risen up while he had rolled unto his other side.

Neither was it because she was merely inches away from the lips that had been able to turn her insides to mush when they had touched her own.

Nor was it because she desperately wanted him to kiss her again.

_Oh hell!_

"Since we're both awake there's no use for lingering about," Hermione squeaked as she jumped of the bed as if it had caught fire. "I'm going to get ready for classes."

Draco smirked as he got full view of Granger, who was now standing up. Draco had often heard that girls in men's clothing looked endearing and, now that he had seen it, he had to agree with that statement. Having transformed back into her own body Granger's clothes had grown several sizes too big, making her look like she was drowning in them. And her usually already bushy hair had gone into complete disarray and was all over the place. Draco thought that she looked rather... cute.

"What?" Hermione asked warily as she caught Malfoy looking at her funny.

"Nothing" Draco said offhandedly. "Just thinking that you look cute, that's all."

Hermione blessed the fates that it was still rather dark in the room, as her face must have been a sight to see. If she were a cartoon character, her eyes would have propelled out of her skull on string wires and her yaw would have hit the floor with her tongue rolling out as if it were a dropped roll of toilet paper.

She had _not_ expected him to say _that_.

Did Malfoy just say she looked _cute_?

"Right, see you later" Hermione said in an unemotional tone as she turned around and left the room. She marched into her bedroom, closed the door, grabbed a pillow, pressed it into her face and screamed into it from the top of her lungs.

When she felt a bit better, she sat herself down on the edge her bed to do some thinking. Why did she just scream into her pillow like a prepubescent girl with a temper tantrum?

Malfoy had said she looked cute.

Right, so she didn't deal with compliments very well.

Okay, that's a big fat lie. She thrived on compliments; they made her feel good about herself. One might not think it because of the proud way she carried herself, but Hermione has always had some issues with self-confidence. Ever since she had first started attending Muggle pre-school, she had used her excellence in academics as a shield to cover up her insecurities. The thought that her grades might slip had always been her greatest fear. If she didn't have her smarts, what else did she have? The fact that her Boggart had been McGonagall telling her that she failed all of her exams should say enough.

No, she didn't have a problem with compliments.

Not about grades or achievements anyway.

The fact was that she didn't know how to react to someone complimenting her looks.

She knew she wasn't a stunner. She had bushy hair, a mousy complexion and her figure was a bit too curvy for her own liking. No one had ever told her that she looked pretty, so why would she think the contrary? The only time anyone had complemented her appearance was when she had attended the Yule ball in fourth year. And Hermione reckoned that that was only because she had spent the whole afternoon in front of the mirror. Even then people were mostly surprised by the fact that she had worn a dress, had make-up on, had smoothened her hair and shocker apparently was a girl. She wasn't prepared to spend hours prettying herself up every day just to blend in with the rest of the pack. Her goal wasn't to excel in her looks, it was to excel in her acts. This was something she had decided long ago and was perfectly okay with.

And now Malfoy had said she looked cute.

Hermione got up from the bed and walked towards her closet to pick out her clothes for the day. When she opened the door and caught sight of her own reflection into the mirror on the inside of the door, she concluded that Malfoy had to be mocking her. She looked pale, her eyes were poufy and her hair looked like a giant birds nest. Not to mention the humungous clothes that made her look like she weighed 200 pounds.

No, he had obviously been sarcastic. Especially when considering that Malfoy had always been the first to call Hermione on her physical flaws.

But that still didn't explain as to why she reacted so strongly to the thought that he might not have been kidding.

_"_I liked the way he kissed_, that is all!" _Hermione told herself as she pulled Harry's shirt over her head and threw it unto the bed.

Last night Hermione had been on Harry's side of the equation. And even if it had been for only an hour, she could say that it had been quite the experience. Harry had given her one of his hairs (she could have just taken it, but didn't want to betray her friend's trust like that), helped her steal some Polyjuice potion from Snape's cupboard and had given her some of his clothes to wear. He had insisted that she put them on before the transformation and made her promise not to do any 'peeking' while in his body. She had complied (if somewhat reluctantly) and had postponed the exploration of the male anatomy to yet another date on her calendar.

Malfoy had expressed nothing but bother and contempt upon her arrival in his bedroom, yet his eyes had been full of hunger and lust, as he had been devouring her body with his eyes. She had almost physically cringed under his gaze. At that point, Hermione had nearly fled the room, finding it hard to deal with the fact that Malfoy was looking at her like that, yet not. Hermione had to keep telling herself that it was Harry who he was attracted to and not she herself. No one had ever looked at her that way, with such hunger and raw animal passion. When Malfoy had looked at her like that, she had never felt more rejected in her life. And she couldn't even fully comprehend why.

She had never really taken much interest in the opposite sex in any other way than friendship, so -unlike most of her peers- she hadn't actually had a boyfriend yet. And it wasn't exactly as if boys were lining up to go out with her. Perhaps one day a person would look past her plain exterior and fancy her for her smarts. But as of yet, she had never found herself walking down a street with young men yearningly shouting at her "Whoa, look at that brain!"

When she had forcefully spooned herself behind Malfoy she had just pretended that he knew it was her who was behind him. That there was someone who enjoyed her touch and found her presence so intoxicating that it immediately brought him into a pleasant slumber. After a while, she had felt herself transforming back into her own body while still cradling his sleeping form. Last night had been the longest she had been that physically close to another person. Never in her life had she felt more feminine while holding that undeniably sexy man in her arms. She also hated herself for doing it without his knowledge and in the guise of treatment.

Hermione stopped to look at herself into the mirror of her bathroom. She felt like spitting at her reflection. She had always thought that having full knowledge about her own strengths and flaws would spare her from getting hurt. She knew that she wasn't the kind of person who anyone would 'lust after' or would want to 'conquer'. That knowledge had made her feel safe; as long as she didn't expect anyone to feel these things towards her, she wouldn't get hurt. But when last night Malfoy had looked at her as if he had wanted to devour her very soul, she realised that she might actually _want_ to be lusted after and _wanted_ to be conquered. By Malfoy, no less.

_But why?_

She didn't have any feelings for _Malfoy_!

She did not even _like_ him!

He wasn't even her type. He was constantly smirking, drawling, and sneering and always talked in that silky seductive tone of voice. It was as if he wanted to warn everyone that he could seduce him or her just with the sound of his voice. He wasn't going to, because you were beneath him, but he just wanted you to know that he_ could_.

Moreover, he looked too perfect. His flawlessly symmetric face annoyed her. It was pointy and aristocratic and it looked as if he was made to look superior.

Which he really wasn't!

Hermione strongly suspected him of using Foundation, because no ones skin could be that smooth and spotless without any external help. His hair always looked like he had used a ruler to see if it all was _exactly_ the way it should be. He never wore the same clothes more than one day in a row and they never had a crease or a spot on them. Draco Malfoy might look like a picture from the cover of one of those smutty romance novels, but he had one other thing in common with those pictures.

He was fake.

Malfoy had been thought how to dress and how to behave since was still in his foetal-stage. He was like a sculpture, moulded from a glob of clay into what the artist wanted it to look like.

A sculpture with an annoying attitude at that. He was spoiled, always got what her wanted and just couldn't let the little things go.

No, she was not jealous of the fact that he just said what he wanted to say and whenever he wanted to say it, without caring if people would dislike him for it or not.

Nor did she admire him for his persistence when he wanted something and his ability in getting it.

And she _thoroughly hated_ the fact that he always questioned her actions and decisions and actually was intelligent and clever enough to do so without looking stupid.

Neither did Hermione internally applaud him when he came up with yet another witty retort to her one of her own banters.

And nor did she actually like fighting with him because it made her able to cut loose and let everything out while being clever and creative at the same time.

Nor did the dishevelled sight of him in the morning make her feel privileged for being one of the select few to have seen it.

And neither did she enjoy the fact that apparently she was the only one he trusted to share his problems with.

And she also didn't feel ashamed to know that when he looked at her, or touched her, or even kissed her; he rather wanted to be with Harry.

She didn't.

And besides, the whole dating-thing was rather pathetic really. A girl would be swooning over some dim-witted guy, only to break up with that very same guy after one only week because he hadn't noticed that she was wearing new nail polish, or what not. At least _she_ had the brains to know that it is actually possible to be a whole person without being in a relationship. Hermione had observed those juvenile mating-rituals plenty to know that they weren't something she would want to engage in.

Even if it came with hugging, snogging, spooning and... other stuff she didn't even dare to let her mind drift off to.

She didn't.

Hermione sighed in defeat as she looked at her reflection with disdain.

"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger and I have the Florence Nightingale Syndrome" she said aloud as if she were currently attending a self-support group.

"That's nice dear" the mirror replied with a yawn. "But before you go into therapy, you first might want to do something about that hair."

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End of Chapter 8

**A/N:** For those who are not familiar with the term, Florence Nightingale Syndrome is the term they give a nurse who falls in love with her patient.

**Thanks for reviewing! **

**Myob, Zaralya, Male-chan, slyswn28, hermyandron4evr, baily89, lollylover, blackfly, mandabella, Roja-Cyd, ReginicSade87, charmed piper,**

**magictrousers830**: Sounds like a good idea, although the room isn't all that big and I don't think they'd all fit in there. Not to mention the work I'd have on describing 'who's hands are where'. I hope you had fun while playing S.P.A.N.K., though.

**AllWeNeedIsLove**: LOL! I know what you mean. It's odd, but in real life I've never actually met another Slasher before. _Where are you people_?

**Queen of Serpents:** Woman! I was just checking my reviews in the school library (which is really quiet) and you made me burst out into snorts of laughter. _Dumbledore in a thong? _Rofl! That's just wrong! My updating scares you? :-) Yes this is prewritten. I only start posting my stories when I start writing my last chapter. As I write I always come up with stuff to add into previous chapters, so I can't really write chronologically. And besides, I think readers appreciate the speedy updates. And the two weeks of constant posting are really fun for me. The reviews are like daily presents. :-)

**Waterprincess**: Harry is Draco's mate, but it's a Draco/Hermione story. Don't worry, people are confused all over the place. :-)

**o0-ireth-0o:** Oh gods, I can only imagine what it would be like to have someone tapping you on the shoulder to tell you you're having your period because she can smell it. Lol! Poor you. But I suppose it must be rather fun to be 'all knowing'? And no, I'm not a Veela, I just look like one. Desperately tries to keep a straight face after previous statement

**Evil Duckie of the BlackLagoon**: WOW! SO MANY CAPS! THANK YOU! :-)

**Munku-JGSPTV**: Dumbledore/Dobby/Hagrid? How would that work? Lol!

**Dizzydragon:** The thing is that Draco can't _see_ Hermione yet. He's essentially gay. Girls don't make him tingle just now. And thanks for you review on WDSNBUT!

**Darlin-Gurl:** Patience, it's coming...

**Lillia Malfoy:** **BANG **Congratulations, you've just been hit by a piano. For further explanation, please consult the A/N on chapter 6. ;-) Thanks though. Besides, I think this chapter about answered your question.

**Craziwidder:** **BANG **Congratulations, you've just been hit by a piano. For further explanation, please consult the A/N on chapter 6. :-)

**He****rmione Double:** Aw, I hope the problem fixes itself. And don't pull out your hair!


	9. Chapter 9

WARNING! To avoid Slash content:

At the line: _'__Open the door to your right, you moron!'_ you should start skimming up to the end of that scene (&&&&&&&&&&&). Then you're safe for a couple more lines.

At the line: "There were just too many things in there that she should not be seeing." You should start skimming again until Hermione says: "My eyes! My virgin eyes!" Then you're clear.

Chapter 9

Hermione was in the Gryffindor common room doing her homework. It was the first evening in weeks she had spent unaccompanied by Draco Malfoy and soon there were many of them to follow. It was May 31st, which meant that tomorrow the Veela mating season would be over. In light of celebration, Malfoy had gone to fly a couple of laps around the Quidditchfield. Normally Hermione wouldn't have let him go unaccompanied, but she knew that Harry was currently in the shower so there really was no objection.

In only a couple of hours Malfoy wouldn't need her anymore and Hermione could try to get over her distorted crush on him. She was getting quite tired of constantly casting smell-repelling charms on herself, so Malfoy wouldn't be able to smell her attraction to him. She felt silly and pathetic and she was going to nip this thing in the bud. It just a typical nurse-falls-in-love-with-her-patient situation. Nothing that can't be fixed by staying away from said patient.

"Has anyone seen Harry?" Neville asked as he descended the stairs that led to the boys' dorms. "He still has my Herbology book."

"He's in the showers," Hermione answered while flipping over another page of her book.

"No he isn't, I just checked" Neville replied.

"_What_?" Hermione shrieked, slamming her books shut. "_Ron_! You said Harry was taking a shower!"

"He is" Ron said calmly. "In the Quidditch locker room."

"_WHAT_?" Hermione shrieked in horror as she jumped from her seat and ran towards the portrait hole.

Shit! Shit! _SHIT_!

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Draco was walking back to the castle after having taken a quick shower in the locker room. He quite liked to push himself while flying. He loved the rush of that went along with it. It made him feel free. And now that experience was doubled, having also having been freed of his Veela-problem.

In a few hours anyway.

Coming tomorrow, he was going to be able to fly without sporting a hard-on in the front and a tail in the back; which should be a big improvement on his flying skills.

As he strode through the walkway underneath the bleachers, a sudden sensation made him halt.

That smell...

_ That goddamn intoxicating smell!_

A sudden rush of heat spread throughout his body. All senses in Draco's body told him to '_Open the door to your right, you moron!_'

Draco turned the knob, which he knew granted access to the Gryffindor locker room, and opened the door. At the sight that met him, all of the blood in Draco's body was immediately drawn towards his nether regions.

It was Potter, naked except for the towel that covered his midsection. Potter looked up with the same kind of awareness that Draco had felt moments before; the presence of his mate.

Draco was breathing heavily, his cock was throbbing heavily in the confinements of his pants and there was not enough blood left to let his brain function properly. Potter's skin looked so soft. Draco just wanted to reach out and caress it to see how it felt against his fingertips. He was slender, yet nicely built. Draco licked his lips as he though that Potter's nipples were just begging to be nibbled on. His hair was damp and tousled and it looked absolutely adorable on him. He was returning Draco's gaze with a lusty look that probably matched his own. Draco could clearly see Potter's arousal making his towel into a tent. He just wanted to rip the offending cloth off the Gryffindor's body and claim him as his.

Draco couldn't take this torture anymore.

He had to have him.

_Now_!

Draco launched himself forwards, grabbed Potter's face between his two hands and enveloped the other boy in a bone-crushing kiss. Tongues met each other, fingers tangled in damp hair and fingers met sensitive skin. All the while, as Draco was nearing to claiming Potter as his, the mating pull was ringing in his ears like a chant. '_Mine! Mine! Mine_!'

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"_OhGod OhGod OhGod OhGod OhGod OhGod_" Hermione kept repeating to herself as she spurted towards the Quidditch field. She should have known better than not to ask _where_ Harry was showering. From Harry's point of view, he was randomly jumping other men for no apparent reason. It is only natural that he would have a problem with showering with the rest of the guys.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

She ran along the footpath underneath the bleachers towards the Gryffindor locker room. To her distress, she could see that out on the Quidditch field Malfoy was nowhere to be seen. She arrived at her destination, slammed the door open and let out a squeal at witnessing the sight that met her.

There were just too many things in there that she should not be seeing.

Harry seemed to be desperatly trying to figure out the quickest way in discarding Draco from his clothes whilst straddling him on the floor, while at the same time Draco was trying to keep Harry as close to him as possible. Hermione could clearly see the scrapes and bruises Draco had carved upon Harry's back during their apparent foreplay. And there also was _rubbing_ involved again.

Oh God, naked Harry!

Naked and _very aroused_ Harry.

_"My eyes! My virgin eyes!" _Hermione thought as she covered her eyes in reflex, but then remembered that she had to put a stop to this for both their sakes. __

"Stupefy!" she shouted while pointing her wand at Harry, who immediately was thrown off Malfoy and got smacked onto the floor where he remained limp and unconscious.

"_NO!_" Malfoy shouted in torture at losing contact with his mate after having been _so close_.

Ropes erupted from the tip of Hermione's wand and wrapped themselves around Malfoy, rendering him immobile.

"Mobilocorpus" she said, levitating Malfoy off the floor. She guided his floating body out the room and down the corridor, farther away from the castle. Malfoy was cursing and screaming at her like a drunken seaman, but she paid no heat to it. When they were at a satisfactory distance, she dropped Malfoy to the ground and left him there while she hasted herself back to the locker room.

"Ennervate" she said, pointing her wand at Harry. He immediately reopened his eyes and looked around dazedly. As Harry was struggling to get off the floor, Hermione picked up Harry's towel and handed it to him while averting her eyes and keeping herself on a respectable distance. It was only then that Harry seemed to realise that he was naked and quickly covered himself up.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"I- I don't. I mean. Yeah- I guess-" Harry stammered confusedly as he reached for his clothes and hurriedly started putting them on.

"Oh Gods, I'm so sorry Harry" Hermione said apologetically. "I can't believe I let him out of my sight!"

"Who? What? Where?" Harry asked confusedly as he pulled his shirt on backwards.

"Malfoy is a Veela, Harry" Hermione admitted. "I'm sorry I hadn't told you sooner, but I had promised him not to tell anyone."

"_A Veela_?"

"Yes" Hermione nodded. "And you were his mate."

"_Mate_?" Harry asked in horror.

"Not anymore" Hermione reassured. "In approximately one hour and a half mating season will be over."

"A Veela?" Harry asked confusedly as he scrambled the rest of his stuff together.

"I'll explain the rest in the morning," Hermione said. The poor boy was absolutely confused. "First, lets get you back to the castle."

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After Harry had safely returned to Gryffindor tower, Hermione ran back towards the Quidditch field to go and fetch Malfoy. When she cut his binds, she noted that he was in a worse state than Harry was. Having been so close to mating without getting his sexual release had knocked the wind out of him. Hermione had to physically support him while walking back to their dorm. They didn't exchange any words, since Malfoy seemed to even have a hard time breathing. His body was so limp against hers that it almost felt like she was lugging a bag of sand over her shoulder. Hermione helped him into their common room and sat him down on one of the couches. She crouched in front of him and held her hand against his forehead to feel his temperature.

Shite, he was burning up!

He grunted in protest when she urged him on to stand up again, but he didn't seem to have the strength to argue. Hermione guided him into her bathroom and carefully sat him down upon the closed lid of her toilet. After she had made sure that he wouldn't topple to the floor, Hermione walked over to her bath and turned on the cold water. Her heart was beating in her chest. She really had no idea what she was doing. All she knew was that he was hot and that she needed to cool him down.

When she turned back to face Malfoy she felt a pang in her heart; he looked so helpless and childlike as he was sitting there on the toilet, hugging himself and shivering from his fever. Hermione felt like she had found a lost little puppy and was about to give it a bath.

But Malfoy wasn't lost little puppy.

No, she was about to bathe a full-grown man.

If she had felt guilty about sharing his bed, how would her conscience feel after stripping him down and giving him a bath?

"Malfoy, you have a fever and I need to cool you down," Hermione said as she kneeled in front of him. "I'm going to have to put you into the bath. Okay?"

In reply, all she got was some incoherent mumbling.

"Okay then, here we go," she said, more to herself than to Malfoy.

While sitting in front of him, she lifted her arms and started to unbutton Malfoy's shirt. She really wasn't used to doing this. Even on the occasions when Harry or Ron was in the infirmary, she had always left when one of them helped the other in or out of his clothes. It was this universal rule: when skin comes peeking, the opposite sexes leave the room.

And now Hermione was undressing a person who not only was a guy, but a guy she was terribly attracted to.

This really wasn't a good idea!

She felt as if she was taking advantage of the situation, even though she was not.

With each opened button, she found it harder to breath. She felt both mortified as eager and she hated herself for feeling the latter. She shushed herself by thinking that she wasn't going to take off his boxers, so she wasn't going to see anything more than Malfoy would show on a beach. When all his buttons were undone, she grabbed the hem of Malfoy's shirt and pushed it over his shoulders, letting it drop to the floor.

Hermione knew it was wrong to ogle, but she just couldn't help herself. She had seen shirtless boys and men before, but never had the sight of any of them been able to make her stomach start to flutter and her throat closing up. He was just beautiful. If her eyes had been her mouth, she would have swallowed Malfoy whole without chewing. Hermione had never known that the male upper body could have such an effect on her. She felt her nipples hardening just from the mere sight of the velvety pale skin that covered Malfoy's upper body. Hermione highly doubted that it had ever seen the sun. Whoever said that pale skin makes a person look ill should get whacked upside the head with a shovel for uttering blasphemy. Hermione just wanted to run her tongue along Malfoy's perfectly sculptured collarbone and caress his well-defined upper arms with her fingertips. The only hair that graced his upper body was a light dusting of golden hair on his lower belly. Her eyes followed the trail until the waistband of Malfoy's pants blocked Hermione's vision.

"I think you better turn the water off."

"What?" Hermione squeaked as she quickly turned her gaze away from Malfoy's lower abdomen and redirected it to his face.

In reply, Malfoy nodded weakly in the direction of the bath. Hermione followed his gaze and quickly reacted in turning off the water flow, which had already gone past its required amount.

"I can do this!" she said to herself as she kept her agonised face towards the tub and out of Malfoy's vision.

She turned back to Malfoy and she pulled his shoes off. Hermione looked up at him and saw that he had his eyes closed and seemed to be concentrating on his breathing.

"I _can_ do this!" she told herself again as she stripped him of his socks.

"I can _do_ this!" she repeated as she unbuckled Malfoy's belt and unzipped the fly of his pants.

"I can do _this_!" she said again as she pulled his pants off, one leg at the time.

"I can-"

Hermione was now practically panting. She had stripped Malfoy of all but his boxers. Hermione noticed that he had not been lying when he had said that 'boy scouts could camp inside his trousers'. No fig leaf could cover up any crucial parts of this godly shaped specimen. Moreover, Malfoy's recent encounter with Harry had made him so aroused that his cock had outgrown the confinements of his boxers and the purple-coloured tip was proudly waving hello from under the waistband. Hermione gasped at the sight and fought the urge to cover her eyes. She reckoned that after having just seen Harry butt naked and aroused it was fairly stupid to now be covering her 'virgin eyes'.

Her eyes were soiled and so was her dirty, _dirty,_ mind.

She did praise God, Satan and every single Deity for the fact that Malfoy's boxers were black. White underwear plus water plus overexcited teenage girl equals 'MAYDAY! MAYDAY!'

Hermione hooked her arm around Malfoy's shoulder and helped him in getting off the toilet seat. When he got to his feet he swaggered a little and Hermione was forced to shortly wrap her other arm around him for support. He landed on her smaller frame with a small 'thud', but she managed to keep her balance while also supporting his weight. As she hugged him tightly –which basically was what she was doing- she had this overwhelming feeling of belonging. Her eyes just reached over his shoulder, her nose was pressed against his skin and she couldn't stop herself from inhaling his scent. How could she ever been thinking of him as 'ew'? She liked his body, she loved his skin, and she revelled in his scent. Even the feel of his erection against her stomach and the pre-cum leaking through her shirt and unto her stomach didn't make her recoil.

Instead, she just wished that it had been her who he'd have this reaction to.

Hermione pulled her act together and helped Malfoy over to the tub, if somewhat clumsily. She used her body as support so he could help himself into the tub.

"_OH FUCKING SHIT_!" Malfoy cried out as he sat himself down in the tub and his heated flesh met the cold water. His nails dug into Hermiones shoulder, yet she didn't withdraw. Instead, she clutched him into a tight hug, so he could grab onto her and squeeze out some of his distress.

When she felt him relaxing under her, she let go of him and went to grab a washcloth and a cup. Having clutched unto Malfoy while he was in the tub had made Hermione herself considerably drenched; yet, she ignored it.

With the washcloth and the cup in her hands, she sat herself on the ground next to the tub. She leaned over the edge, moistened the washcloth in the water and slowly ran it over Malfoy's face. In instinct, he arced into her caress; having accustomed to the cold and now actually welcoming it. Hermione remoistened the cloth and ran it over his neck. She bit her lip as she heard him making little mumblings in approval. She now fully realised what a truly intimate act this was; something that usually only transpires between lovers or a mother and her children. Hermione dropped the cloth next to her, took the cup in replacement and filled it with water. She slowly poured the cup over Malfoy's head and stroked her fingers through his hair. He really did have nice hair. She had always loved it, even when she hated him. It was as if sunlight and moonlight were combined and had been spun into threads of silk. She repeated the action several times while watching the water cascade down his upper body. Little beads of water were slowly dripping down his face, neck and torso to disappear back under the water surface. His chest was rising with every struggled breath he took. His pale nipples were hard enough to cut glass and Hermione just knew it had to be painful. She resisted the urge to run her fingers over the rosy treats to warm them up again. Instead, her eyes drifted towards Malfoy's midsection. The water had made his boxers cling to his skin, leaving nothing to the imagination. The tip of his erection was still weeping for attention and Hermione could clearly see the outline of the swollen sacks of his balls.

Hermione didn't know much about penis-sizes, but she supposed that Malfoy was a bit over average. She chewed on her lip as she wondered what it would feel like to have something of that size buried inside you. It was difficult to imagine that there was enough room to suit a penis that size. She didn't really know how deep her cavern was, but it couldn't possibly have been deep enough to fully accommodate that length. Not to mention the girth! But perhaps it was supposed to stretch you to a degree that it was pain bordering pleasure, so you wouldn't forget that you had a piece of another person inside your own body. Hermione briefly wondered if you could actually feel the other person's heartbeat while he was inside of you. She groaned and rubbed her legs together to relieve some of the throbbing ache she felt there.

She wasn't sure if she should be grossed out by seeing Malfoy's 'thingy', but she _knew_ that she shouldn't be turned on by it.

This was wrong. _She_ would be fairly pissed off if the situation had been reversed and she was in the tub with Malfoy ogling her like a piece of meat and visually undressing her of the last scrap of clothes she had on.

"I'll be right back," she said while scrambling herself off the floor.

She left the bathroom and returned shortly with a pair of pyjama's she found in Malfoy's room. After she had checked Malfoy's temperature again –which had dropped to a less frightening degree- she hoisted him out of the tub and sat him back down upon the toilet. He seemed a bit better; instead of being unwell, he just looked very sleepy.

She took her wand out of her pocket, pointed it at Malfoy and muttered a charm to get him dry. A warm draft erupted from the tip of Hermione's wand and started to blow-dry him while he seemed to struggle not to fall asleep on the toilet. After a few moments Hermione gaze was automatically drawn towards his hair.

He really did have curls.

And it actually _suited_ him, the curls giving his pointy face a slightly whimsical look.

Now the whole 'Angel cast down from the heavens'-look was complete.

"Can you raise your arms?" Hermione asked after she had put her wand down and picked up his white cotton shirt for him to sleep in. In response, Malfoy slowly raised his arms. He couldn't get them very high, but Hermione did manage to pull his shirt over his head. She couldn't help but remain highly aware of every inch of skin she touched. It was as if Malfoy's skin was on high voltage; every touch send shivers throughout Hermione's body.

After Hermione had successfully gotten his shirt and pyjama bottoms on she hooked her arm under his armpit and pulled him up again. It really would have been unnecessary distress for him to be logged all the way to his own bed, so she guided him towards her own. She sat him down and urged him to lie down. After she had managed to tuck him in, she let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't exactly sure what she was so relieved about.

Having gotten through this month?

Having Malfoy and Harry prevented from copulating like bunnies?

Having managed to break Malfoy's fever?

Or just having managed all this without jumping Malfoy in a hormonal craze?

Judging by his monotonous breathing, it seemed that Malfoy had dozed off. Hermione changed into her own pyjamas, grabbed an extra pillow and blanket and made herself comfortable into her recliner. She really wasn't going to lay herself next to Malfoy.

If she did that Hermione thought her conscience might just self-destruct.

After watching Malfoy's sleeping face for a while, Hermione closed her tired eyes and followed his example.

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End of Chapter 9

Thanks for reviewing!

Evil Duckie of the BlackLagoon, English-Foxlette, Hermione Double, lollylover, charmed piper, sw33tdohtee, Kiyoko, mandabella, hermyandron4evr, TearsoftheInnocents, Undying at Midsummer, Alenor, Makalani Astral, MagicFairyDuster, hoofservant,

**Munku-JGSPTV:** I think Hermione/Draco is a fun pairing because it's soooo not going to happen in canon. It's a challenge to make them fit together while making it seem natural. And if Draco was permanently gay, this wouldn't be much of a Het story now would it? :-)

**fallenRain27:** **BANG **I warned ya'h. :-)

**dizzydragon**: I absolutely _love_ 'Back to the Future'! I can just watch it again and again and again... it never gets old. Especially the Darth Vader-scene. That's just hilarious!

**Sara**: No, it just wares off when mating-season ends. The gay-thing is all hormones really.

**Pho3niX** **BANG **Congratulations, you've just been hit by a piano. For further explanation, please consult the A/N on chapter 6. :-) I hope the Slash part in this chapter didn't gross you out too much. It's totally Het from here on on, by the way.

**Gr8Sk8er**: Breaths a sigh of relief Thank god, someone who gets it! You're my hero!


	10. Chapter 10

IMPORTANT NOTICE: If there is anything in this chapter that offends you or you perceive not to 'belong' here, please contact _me_ (so I can do something about it) and not the administrators. Thank you.

Chapter 10

A gentle shaking by the shoulders woke Hermione up. She opened her eyes and found Draco Malfoy staring back at her, who was leaning over the chair she had slept in. Visions of what had happened the night before flooded her mind when her eyes swooped over his face. Hermione desperately tried to suppress the inevitable blush that came along with envisioning almost-naked and soaking wet Draco in her bathtub.

"Granger, do you mind if I kiss you?" he asked hurriedly.

"What?" Hermione yelped a little confusedly. This was definitely a new manner to start the day.

"I'm being polite and I'm asking you first this time," he said smugly. "Its June 1st, you see."

"Ah" Hermione said, not really knowing what to think. If she understood correctly, Malfoy wanted to kiss her to test his sexual orientation. Mating season was over, so if all was well; he should stop fancying boys. It's not like Hermione could feel flattered for him picking her out, since she was the only girl in close proximity. But then again, this might be the last chance she would get to kiss him. And he himself was offering, so...

"You know Granger, in many cultures silence means consent" Malfoy smirked.

"Okay" Hermione said.

"'Okay', as in..."

"Okay, you can kiss me" Hermione said in a wavering tone of voice. She saw Draco smirking and repositioning himself so he could lean closer to her. Just as her mind had started debating on whether this was such a good idea, Malfoy leaned in and softly stroked his lips against her. It was a gentle caress, barely inexistent. Hermione instantly threw all doubts out the window and let her eyes drift shut to fully enjoy the kiss. Hermione suddenly cringed when she realised that she hadn't brushed her teeth yet.

Yes well, too late for that now.

And besides, Malfoy didn't seem to mind much.

She felt Malfoy's hand caressing her cheek as he put slightly more pressure on her lips. Gods, this was so different from the other two kisses he had given her, which had been passionate, lusty and consuming. This one was gentle and tender, two words she'd never have thought of associating with Draco Malfoy. Draco briefly nibbled on Hermione's bottom lip before running his tongue alongside it, asking permission to go forwards. In reply, Hermione parted her lips. Draco didn't hesitate, slid his tongue inside her mouth, and curled it alongside hers. She instantly reciprocated and they engaged in a heated game of advance and retreat. Hermione felt as if all her senses had grown hypersensitive. She found it exhilarating to feel his breath against her face and the heat of his body against her own. It was as if he was tasting her, drinking her essence and sampling to see if something was there.

After a few more moments of kissing, when they were in dire need for oxygen, their lips parted. They both looked at each other while panting heavily. Hermione was just hoping that she didn't look like the puddle of mush she felt like. Malfoy looked at her with his trademark smirk and went to stand upright again.

"Thanks Granger" he said coolly as he straightened his clothes a bit, turned around and walked out of her room.

"Any time" Hermione answered in a hoarse whisper.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Draco was on top of the world. No more homosexual urges, no more overheating and the bunny tail was safely in the garbage bin where it belonged.

Draco was quite relieved about the latter; the person staring back at him in the mirror no longer resembling a runaway from the Playboy Mansion's Secret Men's Department.

Always a plus.

But most importantly; he had no more ejaculatory incompetence. When he had first woken up, finding himself in Granger's bed, he had to mentally retrace his tracks to remember how he had gotten there. He could not remember everything, but he did remember Granger breaking up his... _thing_... with Potter and putting him in her bed.

When suddenly it had occurred to him that it was now June and mating season was over, Draco had quickly tiptoed back to his room to do some necessary 'relieving'. He had released himself from his pyjama bottoms and after only a handful of strokes, pardon the pun, he had climaxed so violently that his eyes had rolled back into his skull and he had actually blanked out for several moments. When Draco had become conscious again, he had re-emerged as a shivering and shuddering satisfied mess who was covered up to his neck in his own cum.

And he was so happy he could cry.

After he had taken a quick shower and had put on some clean clothes, he had gone back to Granger's room, had woken her up and had kissed her.

Yep, the little tingly feelings were back.

When Draco had gotten back to his room, he did that little happy dance the Gryffindors seem so fond of doing after they had won a Quidditch match. _He was still straight! _

But now that he was healthy, sexually satisfied and attracted to girls; he still felt something lacking.

He was pacing around his room to try and figure out what he should do to fix that. In a nutshell, he felt vulnerable and abused. Having been caught in compromising positions with another bloke had created a serious dent in his self-esteem. He wanted his power back to control other people and he did not want other people controlling him. He needed to do something to feel that he was back in control of himself.

Like shagging a girl.

Draco contemplated on consulting Pansy, but quickly dismissed that thought. It wouldn't be enough. She might be able to satisfy his physical needs, but not his psychological ones. Shagging Pansy was just too easy. Draco wanted to seduce someone so he could feel like a man again. He wanted to feel like a predator and not like the submissive pouf he had been for the last month.

His frown quickly turned into a determined smirk when the name of his ideal victim came to mind.

Granger.

Most of Draco's Veela characteristics might have faded, but his sense of smell was still a bit more sensitive than normal. He had clearly been able to smell her bubbling arousal when he had been kissing her just a few minutes ago. Therefore, Granger apparently wasn't as indifferent to 'the Slytherin prat' as she liked to pretend she was.

Yes, Granger would do.

Draco still remembered the Yule ball in fourth year where he had been forced to stick his foot in his mouth where it came to insulting her looks. Draco knew that people often were very sensitive when it came to their appearance, so he repeatedly liked to abuse that soft spot. Granger had been no exception there, next to Scarhead and Freckleface. But ever since fourth year he had found it harder and harder to find things to insult her about. The buckteeth were gone and her boyish figure had gradually developed into soft female curves. He would call her out on her curvaceous figure, but Draco actually liked curves so that was no use. Sure, she still had her bushy hair, but Draco found that the unruly curls suited her feisty personality. But that sure hadn't stopped him from calling her on it. He still needed _something_.

So physically, there really was no problem in pursuing Granger.

He had smelled that she was physically attracted to him in return, yet she probably was too proud to admit it. Draco knew that many girls were openly yearning for him, yet Granger was someone who would never admit her attraction because of the past enmity between each other. And naturally, the thought that the Gryffindor brainiac might actually have a soft spot for the Slytherin hotty Draco Malfoy, would be just unheard of. It would just be _despicable_ to go after someone for their looks and not their minds.

Yes, Granger would be perfect.

&&&&&&&&&&&

NEWTS were swiftly approaching and Hermione was cramming like crazy. Earlier she had had a little chat with Harry about what had transpired over the last month. Harry was quite upset over it all, but what he was perhaps even more upset about was that Hermione hadn't told him about what was going on. Hermione had tried to apologise over and over again, but Harry still was unbelievably upset. He had repeatedly kissed Draco Malfoy, had touched him in... _places_, had _been_ touched in... _places_ and had almost even shagged him. Above all that, he detested the boy with a passion that almost rivalled his hatred for Voldemort. If anyone had a right to be upset, it was Harry. After a while of failing to reconcile with her humiliated friend, Hermione had actually resorted to uttering the words:

"If it's a consolation, you would have bottomised Malfoy. Not the other way around."

And surprisingly, it indeed was a consolation.

Harry was still rather grumpy -and probably scarred for life- but Hermione had the feeling that their friendship would be okay. So now, she was studying at her desk in her common room. May hadn't been a very productive month in that area, so she had some catching up to do. Her mind was so caught up into her studies that she hadn't noticed the new presence in the room.

"I can still smell it, you know."

Hermione looked up, slightly startled, to see that Malfoy had entered their common room.

"What?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"Bodily odours" Draco answered with a smirk as he walked over to her desk. "Most of my Veela traits are gone, but I still have my smell."

"O-kay" Hermione said, not quite following what he was getting on about.

"Is it hot in here?" Malfoy asked casually opening the top two buttons of his silky white shirt. Hermione's gaze immediately flew towards the newly exposed patch of skin. Her mind was immediately thrown back to the evening before, where she had had Malfoy practically naked in her bathroom; his bare pale skin covered with water, all wet and slick... Yes, it was indeed hot inhere all of the sudden.

"At bit" Hermione answered as she turned her gaze back towards her books, trying hard to disguise the blush on her cheeks.

"You don't mind if I take my shirt off do you?" Draco asked, while fanning himself.

Hermione let out a strangled yelp in the back of her throat. She didn't think she could bare the sight of his shirtless upper body right now. Last night Malfoy had been half delirious, so she could afford to goggle without him noticing. But now he was fully conscious and would very much notice her discomfort... and excitement.

Draco smirked at the sight of the Head Girl, who seemed like she wanted to do nothing more than to hide under her desk without him noticing. He walked behind her desk and leaned over the back of her chair with his hands on the armrests on either side of her.

"You know, out of all the scents the smell of arousal is my favourite," he purred in her ear.

Hermione's heart was throbbing in her chest. O Gods, _he knew_.

"I-" she stammered.

"Do you want me, Hermione?" Malfoy whispered seductively while brushing the side of his lips against her cheek. Hermione thought she just might burn up while sitting in her chair. She couldn't believe the tremors that went along her spine after he had done a minor thing like calling her by her first name.

"No" Hermione squeaked.

Suddenly Draco twisted her chair around so she faced him. Hermione yelped when suddenly he flicked the handle beneath the chair, which made her drop a few inches closer to the ground. Draco slanted over her so they were eye-level, and leaned in so their faces were only inches apart. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her; but instead he started speaking again.

"Are you sure?" Draco whispered against her lips. Hermione could feel his eyelashes against her skin, his breath against her mouth, his lips barely touching hers. It was the most sensual and seductive thing she had ever felt and witnessed. Hermione felt an urgent throbbing erupting from between her legs. She found it surreal that Malfoy could emit such a strong reaction in a body part that he wasn't even close to touching.

In response all Hermione could do was to let out a soft mew.

Draco didn't know if that was a 'yes' or a 'no' –matter of fact, neither did Hermione- but nevertheless, he leaned in and captured her lips with his own. The kiss was chaste and tender at first, like the one they had shared before. Draco wanted to leave her aching for more and it seemed to work, judging by Hermione's frustrated growl. It came to a point where she couldn't take it anymore and started sweeping her tongue over his bottom lip, begging for entrance. When Draco parted his lips, she pushed her tongue past the barrier of his teeth and tentatively brushed her tongue against his. He instantly reciprocated and took the dominant role away from her. He heard Hermione whimper as he slowly started making love to her mouth.

Draco urged her to lie back in her chair, so she complied. When she did so, he placed his right leg to stand in between Hermione's' and his left knee on the chair next to her thigh; so he could get access to every part of her body.

While they were kissing, Hermione felt Malfoy snake his hand under her shirt; caressing her stomach as it trailed upwards to cup her right breast through the fabric of her bra. Hermione gasped at the intimate contact and a whole flash of uncertainties came flashing through her mind.

What was Malfoy doing?

Why was he doing it?

And most importantly, what was he planning to do?

But that same gasp suddenly turned into a soft mew when Draco's thumb started trailing circles around her sensitive nipple, which hardened on the spot. At the same time, he trailed from her lips and moved to her neck.

Gods, she didn't even know that her skin was so sensitive there. Her body was experiencing things it had never felt before. She had known that her body could feel either healthy or sickness or pain. Before this, she had no idea that there actually was another end of the spectrum: pleasure.

Draco let his hand move from her breast and went to the waistband of her pants. He snaked his fingers inside her knickers and past her muff of hair. Before Hermione even had time to object –which she surely would have, due to the intimate place of his destination- he had found her clit and circled it with his index finger. In response, Draco got a whole bunch of swearwords he had never though to hear from the Head Girl.

The good kind of swearing, mind you!

Draco put a finger on either side of her clit and started making slow circles. He watched her face as she seemed to be trying to find a way to do something with herself. Her lips were swollen from their kissing and her cheeks were flushed from arousal. She seemed so lost and confused, but loving every moment of it. Draco felt completely in his element. _This_ was what he was talking about, being in control. He had this girl in the palm of his hand, the same girl who had been controlling _him_ for the past month. She was melting by the softest of his touches. Having this amount of control over the Gryffindor goodie-goodie was incredibly arousing and Draco's rock-hard and swollen cock was a good evidence of that.

She gasped when Draco slid a finger in her tight passage. He moved it in a circular motion around her inner walls, putting extra pressure on her sensitive upper wall. Merlin, she was so tight. Draco had this sudden urge so free himself from his pants and sink deep inside of her, claiming her as his. But this wasn't about his primal urges, this was about something else. This was about reclaiming something he had lost: his confidence.

He snaked another finger inside of her and started pushing them in and out, hitting her soft G-spot with every thrust. By now, her eyes were leaking with tears. Draco relished this feeling of absolute control; him fucking her with his fingers while his mind stayed relatively unaffected. He started picking up the pace, slamming his fingers inside of her. The room was being filled with squishy noises and his fingers were dripping with her juices.

He pushed a third finger inside, stretching her. Her swollen walls were hugging his fingers and fitted like a glove. Draco could feel his finger coming in contact with a soft obstruction; her maidenhood. Draco had never seen her date anyone from school, but he supposed that she might have gotten it on with a couple of Muggles during summer breaks. Apparently, that theory was false; she was still a virgin. She let out pleasured moans and surprised gasps as he continued fucking her with his hand. She was holding the armrests as if she would die if she were to let go, her knuckles white from clutching them so tightly. She was trembling violently by now and Draco knew she was close to orgasm.

He pulled his fingers out of her and rubbed his thumb over her clit. She broke apart on the spot. She arced her back as she came, her face contorted in both pleasure as surprise and her body shuddering with release. Draco believed that during orgasm one could see the true essence of a person, the vulnerable part of themselves they never showed anywhere else. Perhaps that was the reason why Draco himself had not slept with anyone other than Pansy, because he didn't trust anyone enough to see his true self. Not that he even fully trusted Pansy, but it was the closest thing that had been available. Moreover, the fact that he hadn't felt any real emotional attachment to her had also been a plus. Draco kept drawing circles around Hermione's clit until he was sure she had come down from her orgasm and had started breathing normally again. He pulled his hand out from under her knickers and leaned in to give her a chaste kiss on the lips.

When he leaned back from his kiss, Hermione did something Draco had not been expecting. If she were to give him a reaction, he had expected it to be something in the lines of uttering incoherent mumblings, or calling him worshipful terms, or even using swearwords again.

But no.

Instead she started _crying_.

Draco's triumphant smirk turned into a concerned frown.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he caressed her cheek in genuine concern, something that surprised even himself. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Hermione shook her head in denial as she tried to stop the tears from flowing. She sat herself upright as she buried her face in her hands in awkwardness.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed embarrassedly. "I just... I never knew it could feel this way."

"What?" Draco asked.

In reply, Hermione sort of waved her hand up and down her body, while not looking at him.

Draco frowned for a second before it dawned on him.

She had never had an orgasm before.

He hadn't even considered _that_. No wonder she had seemed so surprised by what his touches did to her.

Since he had been appointed Head Boy, Draco had started wanking twice more often to relieve himself from the stress that went along with the position. Regarding her studies, Granger pushed herself much further that Draco did. No wonder she had burst out into tears, when years of bottled up pressure were suddenly ejected out of her body.

As Draco watched the usually proud and fearless Head Girl breaking apart in front of him, he suddenly had a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something he couldn't quite identify.

If Hermione would have looked at Draco right now, she would have seen a look in his eyes that mirrored an emotion that no one had ever seen there before.

Guilt.

&&&&&&&&&&&

End of chapter 10

A/N: I'm going to plead with you again, to please contact _me_ if you think this scene was NC-17 instead of an R and should be altered. I'm not clear on what exactly makes an R and NC-17. Is it the mentioning of certain words and graphicness of the act or does it only contain scenes with actual coitus in it? I don't know, so please don't delete my story!

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**wowsergirl, hermyandron4evr, Chikara, MrsThewlisRadliffe, Aznyx, Gr8Sk8er, mbrock, Irelandkicks-ass03, marcie, Parcheezie, charmed piper, fallenRain27, Evil Duckie of the BlackLagoon, littlemisschaos, lollylover, AllWeNeedIsLove, Tinuviel Storm, slyswn28, Zaralya, MagicFairyDuster, baily89,** **sw33tdohtee, ****Munku-JGSPTV, **

**GeLa:** Oh! I really love reviews like yours. It's great to get thoughtfully put constructive feedback. Where did I get this idea? Well, I thought it was about time to try and write a Male Veela story. I just like taking frequently used topics (Male-Veela, body-swap, memory loss, two people stuck in a snowstorm...) and give them a somewhat original twist.

**Serpents Hope:** Well, to get a piano on your head you just have to ask me if… Wait, never mind. I don't think I have piano's left anymore.

**Queen of Serpents**: Yeah, I know that there were much more logical things Hermione could have done than to immediately shove Draco in the tub. Like taking him to Mme Pomfrey or something. But I really wanted that scene in there. I think that it's one of the scenes I'm most proud of in this fic. And about Ron changing into his sister and snogging Malfoy… ACK! :-)

**Otter my Love:** :-) Yes I remember you. Your name sticks. And thanks.

**dizzydragon:** The humour will subdue a little (as it mostly does in my stories towards the ending) but I'll try to evoke an occasion 'snort' once in a while. :-)

**Male-chan:** Well, if you spend 24/7 with a guy you've started fancying I think it's not that abnormal to get a little 'obsessed'.

**mandabella:** Mating after mating season? Isn't that a contradiction? :-)

**Stick It To The Man:** Personally, I think Hermione is someone who has as much insecurities as any other person and tries to cover them up with academic achievements. It struck me when they totally seemed to have forgotten about that in the POA film (which I love dearly, regardless this minor flaw). They really should have let the nervous breakdown she had in the book to make that come across. Anyhow, I like my characters flawed and human, it makes it easier to sympathise with them. Even Draco who, you have to admit, has been quite the ass in this chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Hermione was an emotional wreck.

Never before had she been trapped in an emotional whirlwind of such utter confusion, self-doubt and just plain shock.

In her mind, there had been two ends to the equation of sexual intercourse: celibacy and sex. She hadn't even totally considered all the acts in-between. And she definitely hadn't thought about executing them herself. She had always thought that she would lose her virginity... and then would start experimenting with the rest. Not the other way around.

Or _did_ she just lose her virginity? Common sense told her she didn't, because there hadn't been actual intercourse. But if that were true, lesbians would never get to lose their virginities, which didn't seem accurate.

Gods, this was so confusing.

For years, people had been telling her that sex is not all what it's cracked up to be; that it's not as divine as they make it seem in books or in the movies.

Damn those buggers for letting her believe that piece of crock!

At least _then_ she would have been somewhat prepared for what she had gone through with Malfoy. She probably hadn't even really had sex, but it had been the closest she could get without actually doing it.

What in Morgana's Bane _was_ that?

She knew the mechanics of sexual acts and she knew that many emotions come to play when doing it, but never had she really stopped to think about what it would _actually_ do to her. She had lost complete control over her own body. It was as if Malfoy had the controls over her bodily functions and was randomly pressing them. Well, it wasn't exactly random. If _that_ had been random, Hermione couldn't even fathom what would happen if he was using a manual.

And afterwards she had _cried_.

Hermione had never experienced such complete and utter relaxation. It was as if this giant explosion had erupted in her underbelly and its shocks had been coursing throughout her entire body. For a moment there, her mind had been totally blank. No pressure about school, no NEWTS, no Voldemort... no nothing. Just this feeling of total bliss. It was hard to believe that such experience could be evoked without the use of magic.

Yes well, that feeling was gone now.

Now Hermione just felt dirty.

Not about the act itself. It had been one of the most wonderful and intense experiences of her life.

No, it was about what happened afterwards.

Or more accurately, _didn't_ happen.

Hermione still didn't know what had possessed Malfoy to do what he did to her, but she knew that something about it had put him off. Since then, he had obviously done everything to avoid her presence. She knew it was almost time for NEWTS and that he had to study, but this was plain ridiculous.

Hermione had always imagined giving that personal piece of herself to a person who she'd have dated a while. Someone she knew inside out and whom she trusted with her life.

But apparently that didn't fit in with Draco Malfoy's schedule.

She still couldn't totally believe it.

Draco Malfoy had given her a hand-job.

Hermione felt stupid. At the time, she had had enough brains to know that Malfoy didn't do what he did because he fancied her. She had _known_ that, yet she had just let him have his way with her, because what he had been doing had felt so damn good at the time. She had let him sneak past her defences and let him get into her panties. She had been a whimpering trembling mush of hormones and that though just made her want to vomit. Hermione wished she had just remained the self-controlled intelligent witch she liked to think she was. What was it about Draco Malfoy that made her forget to act as such? And why did she have to _cry_?

Hermione also couldn't help but feel hurt and rejected.

Her common sense told her to go and confront Malfoy about all this. But to be honest, she was just plain scared of what he might say.

Was there something wrong with her?

Wasn't she pretty enough? Was the way her legs had been trembling not normal? Did her juices gross him out? Did she give in too easily and now he thought she was a slut?

_Yes_, there was something wrong with her.

What was wrong was that all she could think about was doing it again. Since that day, Malfoy had awakened something inside of her. Something she wished that he had just kept buried. He had hurt her to her very core and yet she couldn't stop thinking about him. The way he had spoken to her and the way he had touched her. It was the kind of passion she had been yearning for all this time; raw and animalistic, yet gentle and caring. Hermione found herself not being able to go to sleep without retracing his touches on her body, while imagining that it was his hands that brought her to release instead of her own. And afterwards she often cried again.

She cried for being so weak.

She cried for having been rejected.

She cried for how much she hated him for doing this to her.

And she cried for those damn fuzzy feelings that just wouldn't go away.

_No_!

She was going to _stop doing this_!

She was going to stop wallowing in self-pity.

She wasn't weak! She had looked death in the eye on multiple occasions, something most people only have to do once in their lives. Yet, a natural act like sexual experimentation made her into a whimpering little girly-girl? That was just plain ridiculous.

She had always perceived herself as a modern and liberated young woman. She wasn't the hopeless romantic who had planned to give herself to one man and _only_ one man. For that to happen there would be such a thing as love, and love was an illusion. It was a natural response that urged people to procreate, similar to what happened to Malfoy during the Veela mating season.

She just needed to make a positive spin to things.

She had lived, made a mistake and had learned from it.

'I got laid, it was fun, and lets move one.'

At times she still couldn't help but find it ironic that all this time she had though that Malfoy would be the cause to losing her sanity, yet instead he was the cause to losing her heart.

And that was her cue to start spinning again.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Draco's plan had totally not gone as it should have.

Well, actually it did. But it did not have the result Draco had wanted it to have.

By pleasuring Granger, he wanted to feel like a man again.

Instead he felt like a weasel.

Draco had never been given many guidelines or limitations in his life. The only things his father had forbidden him were to cause scandals or being caught at doing something he shouldn't do. Draco always had tried to live up to those rules. He could do anything he wanted, as long as he didn't soil the family name. He supposed that had made him rather spoiled, but Draco regarded that as an attribute that naturally came with being both pureblooded and rich.

He didn't care that before Granger no one had ever emotionally reacted so strongly to something he had done! Draco had evoked plenty of negative reactions from other people by the things he said or did, but never any positive ones. Quite frankly, he had no clue in how to evoke positive responses from people, so he just resorted to stirring up negative ones when he wanted attention.

Therefore, that gnawing feeling he had felt after meeting up with Granger -and had been stalking him ever since- was something completely new to him. And it didn't even make much sense.

He had done something _he_ liked and had done something _she_ liked.

So, what was the problem?

_He should not be feeling guilty for his motivations in doing it! _

He didn't care that he had made her cry!

It wasn't even the bad sort of crying, it was just crying because she just didn't know what else to do with her emotions. Draco knew from personal experience that as much as ones mind controls his body, it was also very much vice versa. He still vividly remembered the summer after fifth year, when his father had just been imprisoned. His mother had noticed that Draco was rather tense and had ordered a massager to come to the manor to relieve some of her son's anxiety. After spending only five minutes on the massage table, Draco had mentally broken down and had started sobbing like an infant. Thank Merlin for the Obliviation charm, or he would have been forced to kill the poor massage-girl who had witnessed that embarrassing moment of weakness.

Since then, Draco had learned a valuable lesson; mind and body are connected and should both be kept in check.

He didn't care that he had hit an emotional cord in a person who cared enough to stalk him for a month.

He didn't care, because Draco himself didn't have any emotional cords.

And neither did Granger twinge any of those nonexistent cords within him.

Draco just wished that that damn gnawing would stop.

The days passed by and the end of the year was swiftly approaching. Draco was quite looking forward to it, because then he wouldn't have the compulsive need to let his eyes drift towards the Gryffindor table to see if she was sitting there. Granger didn't show any outward signs of her emotions, yet her seemingly uncontrollable aversion for looking at the Slytherin table told Draco enough.

He wanted to say something to her. He wanted to make her feel better, which was odd since he never cared how anyone else felt. Draco mused that he just wanted to make her feel better so his own hurting would stop. It was as if their emotions were linked, she was hurt and so he was too. Never mind that he was the one who had done the hurting. He knew that his silence was the cause of it all, but he just didn't know how to speak up. What was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to say that he had just used her to boost his own male ego and didn't care for her beyond that? Yeah, that would make her feel special.

Not that he cared.

But if he didn't care, then why did he feel so damn rotten?

&&&&&&&&&&&&

The weeks went by, NEWTS came and went and the end of the year dance was upon the senior classes of Hogwarts. Tomorrow, Draco would find himself back at Malfoy Manor; safely away from Hermione and the unsettling feelings she brought with her. He had taken that extra step and started referring to her as Hermione. He had done it before, and once you have given a person an orgasm you're bound to call her by her first name one day or another.

He didn't even want to go to that damn dance, but with being Head Boy he had to go and keep an eye on things. He hadn't even bothered to find himself a date, finding the effort for being cordial all evening too much of a bother right now.

Draco was sitting in a chair, drinking some punch (which he had spiked to give it some kick) and looked around the dance floor.

It seemed that Potter had asked that Lovegood-girl out as his date. Good for him. If the smell of arousal that girl emitted was any indication, it seemed that Potter was going to get more a bit action than he had gotten during his 'episodes' with Draco. Draco had kept telling himself to try to see the humour in those occurrences, yet he just couldn't see it. He supposed it had to rest for a while, like a good whine.

Maybe in fifty years, he'd be able to crack a smile over almost getting shagged by Harry Potter.

No, still not funny.

As Draco was sitting in his chair, counting down the minutes, a familiar smell suddenly caught his nostrils again. Peach, mint, tropical fruits and a fragrance that only belonged to Granger. Draco turned his head towards the source and cringed inwardly at the sight of the Head Girl. She was dressed in a body hugging dark green velvet gown that showed off every gorgeous curve of her body. She had put her curly hair up in a whimsical bun and had decorated it with a few little green and white flowers.

Why couldn't she just have dressed in a potato sack?

Draco glared as he noticed that her date for the evening was the Weasel. He didn't even know why he cared so much, all he knew was that he did. He thoroughly hated the sight of them as they danced. He didn't like Weasley's hands resting on the curve of her lower back, he didn't like the lusty glances he gave her when she wasn't looking and he _really_ didn't like the fact that Weasley's hands were gradually moving downwards.

Draco was suddenly hit by this very familiar feeling. That same possessive feeling he had gotten when he wanted to rip Luna Lovegood's eyes out for checking out at his mate. Yet, this time that feeling wasn't a side effect to the mating season, this was solely Draco. He got off his chair and moved unto the dance floor.

"Please refer from this inappropriate show of public affection" Draco sneered at the dancing couple, which broke apart instantly.

"What are you going on about, Malfoy?" Weasley glared as he possessively hugged Hermione to his side. Hermione just kept her eyes on everything except on Draco.

"You know perfectly well what I was referring to, Weasley" Draco huffed. "Keep your paws to yourself, will you. I don't think there is anyone here who'd enjoy seeing you feeling up the Head Girl."

"I wasn't _feeling_ her up!" Weasley said, his face going red with embarrassment.

"Malfoy, can I see you outside for a second" Hermione said coldly, more a demand than a question.

After sending one final death-glare towards the Weasel, Draco complied and retreated into the hallway. After a few moments, in which she had excused herself from Weasley, Hermione joined him there.

"What do you think you're doing?" she glared at him while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Just doing my job as Head Boy" Draco replied huffily.

"Stop playing games with me Malfoy!" she said crossly. "Don't you think you've embarrassed me enough? Now you have to control my life too?"

"He shouldn't have touched you like that," Draco said bluntly.

"Why?" Hermione retorted. "You figured that I'm suffering from this uncontrollable need for other people to touch me and you thought I should be stopped?"

"No" Draco said. "I-"

"Just... leave me alone, Malfoy" Hermione said callously as she turned back around to rejoin the party.

Draco really had no idea what to say.

He didn't really know what he wanted.

He knew that he just couldn't bear to see Weasley touching her. It made him sick to the stomach. Draco wanted to be the only one who was allowed to touch her that way. The thought of someone else pleasuring Hermione the way he had done made him angry like a mother hen who's eggs had been stolen.

No, he _did_ know what he wanted.

He wanted _her_.

He grabbed Hermione's arm before she had the chance to walk out of his reach and twisted her back around. Draco wasn't very good with words in expressing his feelings. He was better with actions. He grabbed her face between his hands and pressed his lips against hers in a smothering kiss. _This_ was how it should be. Him and her, two passionate fires coming together to create fireworks. He made love to her mouth and poured his entire soul into the kiss. At first Hermione didn't seem to object too much to his kiss, probably since she was too taken aback by his sudden movement, but then...

SMACK.

Hermione had smacked Draco around the face with all the strength she possessed.

"_I don't know who you think I am, Draco Malfoy, but I am not your whore!_" she yelled indignantly. She was trembling with rage. Her eyes were misty from unshed tears, but it wasn't clear if they were from hurt or pent up aggression.

"_I might not be particularly exceptional or sexually experienced or one of those beautiful pureblooded girls with figures like models you're used to, but I do have feelings_," Hermione yelled, tears now leaking from her eyes and streaming over her cheeks. "_You found out that I liked you and you just had to go and exploit_ _that_?"

Draco looked at her. He had seen Hermione Granger angry before, but this was different. He had truly hurt this girl. It wouldn't matter much if he himself didn't care so much about how she felt. Draco had royally fucked up this time.

"I just wanted to prove that I wasn't the submissive pouf I had been for that past month," Draco admitted while rubbing the sore cheek where Hermione struck him. She had struck him before, so he knew she had quite a force behind that hand. Yet, he didn't remember it hurting _this_ much.

"Too bad, Malfoy" Hermione said uncaringly. "Because I liked that pouf. At least he wouldn't have made me feel like a used rag."

"I didn't mean-"

"So, what do you want now?" Hermione asked, ignoring Draco's attempt to excuse himself. "Why talk to me again? Why _kiss_ me again?"

"I like you, okay!" Draco blurted out. "I want to start over."

Hermione looked at him with a mixture of anger, hurt and incredulity.

"_For a month I've been helping you. I've kept you company for almost every moment of the day, I drank Polyjuice potion, I slept in your bed, I've almost lost my best friend over this and I even gave you a fucking bath_!" she yelled in disbelief. "It's not like you didn't know you would hurt me be doing what you did. You knew I liked you, you encouraged that feeling and then you dumped me like a used teabag!"

"I just... I couldn't deal-" Draco stammered. Gods, this was going totally wrong. He knew what he had done was bad, but having it spelled out like that...

"_Are you that emotionally stumped that you can't deal with the fact that someone might actually like you for who you are, and not for your money or your status?_" Hermione asked incredulously. "_That you have to hurt them to drive them away, because you just can't cope with it? _If you want to live your life filled with phoney friends, casual sex and arranged marriages; that's your choice. Just leave me out of it."

Hermione turned around, the discussion over for as far as she was concerned and walked back towards the Great Hall.

"Hermione-" Draco said, trying to stop her from leaving.

"You don't have to keep pushing me away, you already did" she spat, turning the corner and walking out of his view.

&&&&&&&&&&&

End of chapter 11

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**slyswn28, magictrousers830, Zaralya, rupertsgirlie, savvyfairy, MagicFairyDuster, Otter my Love, charmed piper, mandabella, mrsThewlisRadliffe, Kiyoko, dizzydragon, kbluesmom, Thucci, CleverWitch, hoofservant, Soul-Dead-Dragon, sw33tdohtee, degrassichick92, Stalker1869, libraflyter, Undying at Midsummer, Blazing Fire, Freja, Makalani Astral, couch-potato01, Roja-Cyd, **

**Munku-JGSPTV:** I'm glad you're going to keep reading this. And I'm sorry, but you just crack me up! The stuff where everyone is urging me to go with this story, you're hoping I won't go. :-) And I had started writing on the last chapter when I first started posting... and it still isn't finished. In the beginning I said it would be 13 chapters in total, but it will probably be 14 chapters epilogue.

**Gr8Sk8er:** Lets just pretend that Hermione's morning breath smells like roses. :-)

**Sakuraforce**: Err... I don't really know how it works either. I just know that in Mythology, Veela's can only be female. But Mythology rarely makes any sense. I don't know. Perhaps they can conceive full-bloods if they mate during mating season, but get half-breeds if they conceive outside of the month May. And I just totally made that up. :-)

**Pho3niX:** It's not a stupid question. Hermione is an intelligent girl who knows that Draco's reactions are just hormonal and I doubt she'd take it personal.

**AclownNeverDies:** I'm going to be fair since you posted your review before your read the chapter in which I gave the piano-warning, and don't drop any one your head for asking me that question. If you've read up to this chapter, I doubt your still questioning the het-ness of the story. :-)

**the-sexy-flower: **Wow, thanks. I guess I should be worried when you stop reviewing huh. ;-) And no, this story isn't autobiographical. :-)


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Draco seriously felt like throwing up.

There were just too many emotions twirling in his gut.

He was smitten, hurt and above all angry. He was angry with Hermione and angry with himself. He hated when he wasn't able to get something he wanted. It made him pout like a toddler who didn't get a lollypop. And that had never been a very flattering look on Draco.

He supposed that he should feel somewhat relieved that this time it actually was a _girl_ he wanted, but somehow that thought wasn't much of a comfort. In only a few hours, Hermione Granger would get off the Hogwarts Express and walk out of his life and that was a thought that made Draco's stomach wrench.

The shit had hit the fan and had splattered all over him.

He had even resorted to _apologising_.

Draco suddenly had the urge to duck under the seats to start looking for his pride, because it was clearly missing.

He had never apologised for anything in his life. The least she could have done was to _accept_ his apology, but no. He could still feel his cheek throbbing from where she had slapped him.

What was it about this girl that made her able to get under his skin like this?

She's opinionated, a know-it-all, too smart for her own good, a Gryffindor to the core, someone who refuses to recognise the superiority of purebloods and has the appearance of a modern-day bohemian.

If Draco were to go looking for someone to have a long-term relationship with, it would have been someone who was of pure blood, looked good on his arm, was a wild cat in the sheets and had the amount of brains that made her able to hold half a decent conversation yet emphasized that Draco was of superior intelligence.

Hermione was nothing he wanted.

Yet, perhaps she was everything he _needed_.

"Draco?"

"What?" Draco asked, suddenly snapping out of his reverie.

"The papers" Hermione said pointedly.

Draco sighed and handed her the papers, which were lying next to him. When was this damn meeting going to be over? They had been in that damn compartment ever since they had boarded the train, to inform the fifth and 6th year prefects of what they needed to do at the start of next term. To Draco, this was just torture; sitting right next to Hermione, knowing that within a few hours she'll be out of his life and that there was nothing he could do about it.

&&&&&&&&&&

"Alright, that was it" Hermione said as she got up from her seat. "Thanks for your attention and have a good summer."

The compartment filled itself with the sounds of amicable chatter and Prefects getting up to go and rejoin their friends. Hermione was rummaging all her stuff together, while trying very hard to avoid looking at the pouting Head Boy next to her. Just when she was done, she felt someone grabbing her by the arm.

"Can I see you for a second?" Ginny asked urgently.

"Off course" Hermione said, grateful to be able to leave the compartment in a hurry, without having it seem like she was doing it to get away Malfoy.

Ginny dragged Hermione out into the hall and into the first empty compartment they came across. By now Hermione was quite curious what Ginny wanted to talk to her about in such a rush.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked pointedly when she had closed the door behind them.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"You could cut the tension with a knife in there" Ginny said. "What did Malfoy do this time?"

"Nothing" Hermione denied speedily.

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked. "I'm just concerned about you. You seem a little off lately. And after what I've seen in the Prefects meeting, lets just say that I'm drawing conclusions and they all point to Malfoy."

Hermione sighed. She had hoped that she had been hiding her emotions rather well. No such luck apparently. She wasn't sure if she should go and talk about this, but this whole situation had been eating her up on the inside and she needed to let it out. This whole boy-girl stuff was completely new to her and she could do with some good advice for future reference.

Hermione swallowed nervously. It still was very embarrassing to go and admit all this. She was going to have to confess that she had been weak, that she had been just another Hogwarts teen who had swooned over Draco Malfoy's handsome looks. If it had been anyone else opposite her, she would never spill her guts like she was about to do. But it was Ginny, her best and only female friend. Two years ago, when Ginny had first come out of the closet, Hermione had been the first person she had informed about her sexual preference. If Hermione couldn't tell Ginny about this, who else could she tell?

"You swear that you won't tell a soul!" Hermione said.

"I swear."

"We... I and Malfoy, I mean... we did something," she whispered as she sat herself down on a seat.

"What?" Ginny asked, sitting down opposite Hermione.

"Something... sexual" Hermione said embarrassedly, while suddenly finding her feet very interesting.

"YOU HAD SEX WITH MALFOY?" Ginny shrieked in surprise.

"Shhht!" Hermione shushed. "And no! Just... something else. You know... with his fingers."

Ginny didn't say anything. She just started at Hermione in what seemed to be utter shock. Hermione reckoned that that must have been the face she herself had made when Draco had told her she looked 'cute'.

"I- When did you... How- _WHY_-?" Ginny stammered.

Hermione sighed. She had known Ginny would react like this. Heck, she could hardly believe it herself.

"I know that it must be difficult to understand, but over the last few months I've grown to like him."

"_Like_ him?" Ginny asked unbelievingly. "_You fancy_ _Malfoy_?"

"I suppose" Hermione sighed, although she still couldn't really comprehend why. Malfoy wasn't nice. He wasn't sweet. For some reason she had always imagined herself to fall for a man who was somewhat in touch with his feminine side. Someone who was manly and courageous enough to show his emotions.

Someone who was... just... _nice_.

So why did she fall for an emotionally retarded bloke like Malfoy?

"_Why_? What do you see in him?" Ginny asked disbelievingly. "I know he's easy on the eyes and all, but beyond that..."

"_I don't know_" Hermione grunted. "I realise that it doesn't make much sense. All I know is that I turn into a panting mush every time I see him. It's unnerving!"

"So, Malfoy is... a nice guy underneath?" Ginny asked, clearly unconvinced.

"Well..." Hermione started. "Not really. He's still as snarky and haughty as he ever was. And a month ago, his Slytherin side popped up again."

"How so?" Ginny asked.

Hermione's throat closed up a bit. Retracing everything that had happened brought back those nasty feelings of hurt. She preferred being angry. She hated being the 'Sweet-Little-Innocent-Gryffindor-Virgin-Who-Got-Bagged-By-The-Devious-Good-Looking-Slytherin'. She _hated_ it, yet she couldn't convince herself of not being just that.

"In a nutshell: I never told him I fancied him but he found out anyway" she started explaining. "Then he did the... _thing_ with his fingers so he could 'feel like a man', followed by not to talking to me for a month. Then at the senior dance he starts wigging out and had said that he liked me and wanted to start over."

"Ouch" Ginny said with a sour face. "And what did you say?"

"I said no, off course!" Hermione said, not believing that Ginny would even ask her that. What else could she have said? _'Draco I forgive you, please take me and shag me rotten'? _Yeah, right.

"Ah. And do you have any idea why he did those things?" Ginny asked.

"Because he's a scared little weasel, that's why!" Hermione said. "He's scared of his and other peoples feelings. And the only way he knows how to deal with them is to hurt people."

"And even though he did those things, do you still fancy him?" Ginny asked.

"Yes I do" Hermione grunted. "It's not a switch I can just turn on and off."

Ginny was quiet in contemplation for a few moments.

"Hermione, you know who you are don't you?" Ginny asked.

"Who?" Hermione frowned.

"You're princess Leia" Ginny declared.

"What?" Hermione asked in confusion. She caught the 'Star Wars'-reference, but didn't see the relevance in this case.

"Your entire life you've been surrounded by nice men who were like brothers to you," Ginny explained. "It's only natural that you would be drawn to the scowling, handsome rogue who challenges you and makes your tummy tingle."

"Great, my life is a cliché" Hermione grunted. Ginny's analogy made sense... except for the fact that right now Hermione rather wanted to drop said 'handsome rogue' in a container, fill it with Carbonite and leave him there; instead of getting him _out_.

"So basically..." Ginny said thoughtfully, snapping Hermione out of her vengeful thoughts. "If you peal off all the layers of the preverbal union, I see two things: You fancy Malfoy and Malfoy fancies you."

"It's not that simple" Hermione retorted.

"Isn't it?" Ginny asked. "He actually said that he fancied you, didn't he. There's no denying that Malfoy handled it extremely badly, but lets face it; the boy comes with a huge amount of baggage. Perhaps he just needed this whole fiasco so he could get his feelings for you in order."

"I am not some teabag who can be used and reused again," Hermione argued. She wasn't planning to become one of those women who just forgive and forget everything that is done to them so their 'hubby' wouldn't get disgruntled and might leave them. She wasn't some doormat! Hermione wasn't the kind of person who would 'turn the other cheek'. If someone slapped her, she'd slap back.

"I'm not saying _that_ " Ginny said. "Lord knows that I'm not fond of Malfoy, so I would never push you into dating him. The thing that counts here is your happiness. I'm just saying... are you _sure_? In a few hours, he might be gone out of your life forever. I'm sure I don't know everything that has happened, but is it worth losing him to salvage your pride?"

Hermione thought about this. She so wished that she could forgive Malfoy to see what might come of it, but it conflicted with everything inside of her. Hermione didn't feel like talking to him, and even if she did; she wouldn't know what to say to him. He had done something really nasty to her, so if anyone was to speak up it should be him.

But then again, he had already done that.

_Very_ clumsily.

Yet she couldn't help but have his words ringing in her ears over and over again: 'I like you, okay! I want to start over.'

Did he really?

Hermione's first reaction would be to dismiss it as a lie, because it wouldn't make any sense. Why would he deliberately hurt her if he fancied her?

But it was _Malfoy_.

It didn't have to make any sense.

Lord only knew what was going on in that Slytherin head of his.

"I- I- Merlin, I don't know" Hermione sighed, burying her head in her hands. "It's just... I've never felt so stupid."

"I'm sure he's thinking the same, judging by the way he looked just now" Ginny said comfortingly. "He was pouting so hard that his bottom lip was practically reaching his toes."

"There's no way of knowing now is there?" Hermione said helplessly. "Hell will freeze over before he says what he feels. And even if he did, there's no reason why I should believe him."

And just then Hermione had an idea.

A rather wicked idea.

And idea that just might work.

And judging by Ginny's facial expression, her light bulb had switched on at the same time as Hermione's.

Hermione just hoped that she wasn't mistaken and Ginny wasn't thinking of something involving a certain golden bikini and a leash.

&&&&&&&&&&

End of chapter 12

**A/N:** I know I initially announced that this story was going to be 13 chapters, but instead it's going to be longer. I don't know exactly how much longer, since the amount of chapters to come seems to be changing daily because I'm still editing like crazy. I'll let you know when the last chapter is to come before it's there.

**A/N2:** If there's a slight delay in updates, that's me not being happy with the chapter and busy re-writing. Just so you will not think I died or something.

**A/N3:** Thank you's and responses are for tomorrow. I went to the movies and now it's late.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Draco was still in the prefect's compartment, mesmerized into thought. Everyone had left, so he had the time and opportunity to do just that.

He didn't even know why he was sulking so badly.

So he couldn't get Granger.

Big deal.

'Oh no, I'm not getting the opportunity to get smothered into a suffocating relationship with a Gryffindor'.

Just the word by itself: '_Relationship'_.

It sounded like a disease.

'I'm suffering from relationship'.

Yes, Draco was relieved not to be suffering from _that_. He shouldn't be sulking. He should be celebrating!

He would.

If he wasn't suffering from heartache instead.

Draco groaned and dropped his face in his hands to sulk some more.

Then suddenly the door reopened. Draco was about to tell the intruder to sod off, until he saw who it was. Hermione came in without saying a word and closed the door behind her. She went to sit opposite from Draco and looked him straight in the eye. Draco fought the urge to look away. Her gaze was piercing his mind, but he wasn't going to recoil and avert is eyes in a gesture of weakness. He felt weak enough as it was. All because of _her_.

"Do you still feel the same way as you did at the dance?" Hermione asked coldly.

"Yes" Draco answered in truth, although suspiciously. The girl could go from zero to flaming fury in 0,2 seconds, so Draco really wanted to keep on his toes while he was alone with her in a train compartment.

"Prove it" Hermione said, reached into her bag and put an empty cup unto the table between them. She filled the glass with water and then added three drops of a bluish liquid, which dissolved immediately.

Draco frowned in question.

"It's Veritaserium" Hermione explained as she leaned back into her seat and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "The ball is in your court."

Draco ogled the substance with suspicion.

Truth potion. How very Slytherin of her.

This was tricky.

He wasn't very keen on digesting a potion concerted by someone who was infuriated with him. His father had always told him: 'Never digest something offered to you by an enemy'. Draco could see the logic in that, but he also was very aware that Hermione was giving his a window in. If letting her know what he was thinking could get him back into her good book, then he was just going to let her know. He reckoned that he knew her enough to know that she wouldn't be trying to poison him. _This_ was his chance, so he decided to grab it with both hands.

Draco reached for the glass, brought it to his mouth and emptied it in one go.

Hermione swallowed nervously as she watched him emptying the glass. O gods, this was it. The moment of truth. She had thought that it would have taken a miracle to get Malfoy to swallow the potion. Hermione hadn't even truly thought about what to do if he did. Right now, she had the power to turn Draco Malfoy inside out.

When Malfoy had put the glass back down, Hermione decided to just go ahead and ask what was first on her mind.

"Last month, why did you do what you did? Coming on to me" Hermione asked tentatively.

Draco sighed.

"I had lost control and I wanted it back," he said. "I figured that that was the best way to go about it."

Hermione nodded, knowing that he had admitted to that before.

"But why _me_?" she asked. "I know you could smell my... affection for you. But lots of other girls fancy you too."

"Because conquering you _means_ something," he explained. "It's obvious that you're trying to live up to so many conflicting desires, morals and expectations that you're hesitant to act on any them. You were a challenge. And you were the person who had control over me for a month, so I saw my window to inflict some payback."

Hermione noted that Draco didn't even seem like the information was forced out of him. It was as if they were having a normal conversation. A normal conversation with way too much truth telling. Up until now, Hermione really didn't like what she was hearing. She felt stupid for admitting it, but when she had entered the carriage with Ginny's Veritaserium; her teenage-girl-dreams had kicked in overdrive. She had just wanted to hear that Draco was totally smitten with her; that this whole thing was just one big misunderstanding and that he lusted after her as much as she did after him.

But no, she had been a _challenge_.

Stupid girly fantasies!

Hermione swallowed the lump in her throat and went to her next question.

"Was ignoring me part of that same plan?" Hermione asked. "To hurt me so you could feel in control?"

"No" Draco replied while fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't like being this open. It felt unnatural! Yet he couldn't stop the thoughts from tumbling out of his mouth. It was as if he was vomiting words.

"I realised that I shouldn't have done what I did," he continued. "My motivations were out of place. I felt guilty about it and that scared me."

"How so?" Hermione asked. She was very much aware that Draco was very uncomfortable in talking so openly about all this, and that thought gave her strength. _She_ was the one in control here, not the other way around as it had felt for far too long.

"I've never felt guilty for doing anything," Draco explained while nervously running his fingers through his hair in an act of embarrassment. "It made me realise that I actually cared about how you felt. That scared me even more, because I never cared about anyone before. And I stayed away from you because I hate being scared, being weak. But the longer I stayed away the more I hurt you and the more guilty I felt. An error in judgement on my account."

"So you didn't stay away from me because I put you off during... the thing?" she asked. Hermione felt rather silly for asking this, but she still wanted to know.

"No" Draco answered. "You were much more responsive than Pansy ever was. It boosts a male's ego."

Hermione couldn't help but release a breath in relief. But then she frowned.

"Draco... how many girls have you... pleasured before me?" she asked suspiciously. He could have said 'then anyone I've been with'. Instead, he just said 'Pansy'.

"Just one" Draco said.

Hermiones jaw dropped in astonishment. _Only one_? What about all those rumours about the vast amount of notches on Draco Malfoy's bedpost? Now _there _was a revelation!

"Why did you kiss me at the dance?" she asked, changing the subject back to the issue at hand.

"It seemed the right thing to do at the time," Draco explained. "I'm not very good at expressing myself about that sort of stuff. At least when I'm not under Veritaserium."

"What 'stuff'?" Hermione asked.

"Affection, caring, loving... that stuff."

If it wasn't he himself saying these things, Draco would have had the urge to stick his finger down his throat and make a gagging noise. Could he _be_ any sappier? _This_ was why he was a man of actions and not words; so claptrap like this wouldn't start spilling out of this mouth.

Hermione's eyes widened. 'Loving'? Where did that come from? They just went from 'being a challenge' to genuine words of affection.

"Draco, how do you feel about me?"

"Nauseous" Draco replied.

"_What_?" Hermione asked.

"I feel so much that it makes me nauseous. Anger, resentment, affection, concern, arousal, yearning, admiration,..."

"Okay okay" Hermione interrupted. "It's just... what do you want us to be regarding each other? Do you want us to start going out to see what happens? Or do you want us to be 'friends with benefits' or-?"

"Lovers" he replied.

Hermione bit her lip at the sound of him saying that word. Just hearing him say that made her nipples harden. Gods, she was already starting to crack.

"So, when you came on to me it was solely to boost your male ego" Hermione said, recapitulating. "But then you did feel something and you kept away from me because it scared you. And now you've stopped feeling scared and you want us to become an item?"

"Yes" Draco answered.

"Would you ever intentionally hurt me again?" Hermione asked.

"No, I wouldn't" Draco said in earnest. "Not intentionally anyway. I can't promise you otherwise, because I do seem to do a lot of stupid things without meaning to."

Hermione nodded in understanding. She bit her lip in hesitation for asking her next question.

"Malfoy, I just... what do you see in me?" she asked sceptically.

"You're intelligent, clever and brave," he answered. "You don't let people walk over you yet you know how to keep them on your good side unless you don't want them to. You don't exploit people while they're weak, even though you could. You're stunning, yet you don't seem to be aware of it. You have an opinion about just about every single topic in the world and you're smart enough to actually sell it to someone else. I like the way your eyes sparkle when you're arguing about something or when you're coming apart during orgasm. Most might think you are rather prim and detached, but in fact you've got more passion and zest in your little pinkie then most people in their entire bodies; they're just too blind to see it."

Draco blinked for a moment in astonishment at hearing his own words. Did he actually just say all that?

Off course he did, because it was true.

Hermione was breathing heavily and was trying very hard not to whimper. That were just about the most beautiful things anyone has ever said about her. If it had been in any other situation, she would have told him to stuff a sock in it. But now he was under Veritaserium and Hermione knew that he _actually meant it_, that he didn't just say those things because he wanted something of her.

"What about the war?" she asked, re-gathering her wits. "Are you still siding with Voldemort?"

"No" Draco said. "I don't want to suffer the same fate my father did. I don't care much about who wins or loses. Whatever the outcome, I'll adapt."

Hermione smiled in relief, knowing that that was the best she could have hoped for.

Just then, she realised that she had no more questions to ask him. Well, except for one.

"Malfoy, I still have one thing I want to know. It isn't a question, but you still can't say it if you don't mean it."

Draco nodded.

"I want you to say that you're sorry," Hermione said simply.

Draco looked at her knowingly. He knew that she had already known he was sorry about what he had done, but girls always seemed to like having these things spelled out for them. Not that he minded; she deserved an apology.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

Draco still was going to have to go searching the floors for his pride, because it seemed to have rolled even further away from him. He had apologised, had been slapped, had been jelled at, had been rejected, had digested Veritaserium, had admitted to a whole lot of embarrassing _feelings_ and now had apologised... _again_.

He wasn't even in a relationship and he was already whipped.

Draco mused that perhaps he was secretly into bondage, because being whipped didn't feel al that bad.

Hermione released a breath. It was odd that those three simple words could make such big of a difference. She felt... released.

Then she realised that she had just forgiven him.

When did that happen?

Suddenly she was struck with nervousness, realising that there was nothing standing between her and Malfoy becoming an item. _She_ wanted it and she knew _he_ wanted it. She had _hoped_ this would happen, but she hadn't truly _expected_ it.

How does one go about this?

There really should be a book about this sort of thing.

When suddenly snapping out of her moment of indecisiveness, she refilled the empty cup with water, put in the Veritaserium and drank it herself under Draco's surprised gaze.

"Your turn" she said determinedly, waiting for Draco to respond.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

End of chapter 13

A/N: Several people have asked me about what will happen when May arrives again. No worries, that topic shall be addressed... just not now. :-)

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**Aznyx, Otter my Love, Heather, Dizzydragon, Serpents Hope, hermyandron4evr, diehard draco hermione, Kiyoko, hermyandron4evr, hannie-k, littlemisschaos, charmed piper, Evil Duckie of the BlackLagoon, CleverWitch, kbluesmom, WriterLady1031, yanely1167, angela, EgyptsStar, magictrousers830, Silent-Serpent, Zaralya, Takako san, andie, Moon Burst, rupertsgirlie, couch-potato01, Moon Burst, rani singla, Heather, Strawberry Shortcake, Roja, libraflyter, Male-chan, Melody Malfoy, Magicall Me, mrsThewlisRadcliffe, SiriuslyPadfoot'sGal, hoofservant, the-sexy-flower, Makalani Astral, larisa gold, rez, dizzydragon, Queen of Serpents, shadowdweller602**

**Queen of Serpents:** Jeez, I can understand why you would cry over that. Actually, my first fanfic got deleted because of the explicit content. It took me a while to gather the nerve to write something again. Thank god for I say. And I can see the humour in Ron kissing Draco, but... it's just... _the thought_! :-)

**Undying at Midsummer:** Thanks for your review for "mirror, mirror on the wall...". You know, originally I had been thinking of writing a scene with McGonagall in it, but that idea got dismissed early on... for obvious reasons. :-) And I know it's a bit flawed, but it was written before I really knew what I was doing. I might rewrite it one of these days though.

**Savvyfairy**: Aaaaarg! Whine? _WHINE_? That's idiotic mistake number three. Although, the sentence still makes sense in a way. :-)

**Mandabella**: Oh, good question. I suppose I sort of imagine them as being my own age, with slightly younger facial features. But then again, I'm 20 (21 in December, shoot me!) and the characters are 17-18 years old, which isn't _all that_ big of a difference. At 17, a person is fully grown and looks pretty much like an adult. I always tend to put the characters at least in their 7th year, when they wouldn't _really_ qualify as 'kids' anymore, because otherwise it would be... weird.

**o0-ireth-0o**: Yep, I have MSN. My e-mail address is in my profile, feel free to insert it in. :-)

**Munku-JGSPTV**: It's quite obvious that Hermione and Ron will become an item in the books and I will enjoy to see it happen (_I still can't believe that lots of people still don't see it!_). But Draco/Hermione is just so much fun to write about because they're just so wrong for each other... and in other ways so right.

**Billys lil Riot Girl**: Grows womanly parts? ROFL! Aw, I just missed a really good plot-line didn't I? ;-)

**Gr8Sk8er:** Ginny's gay-ness has been mentioned before (Chapter three, Scene four), when Hermione found it odd that Ginny had said that Draco looked gorgeous because of the fact that she's attracted to girls. And I went to see 'Collateral'. It was good. I haven't heard from Napoleon Dynamite before. But the again, we get most movies extremely late in the cinema's so that's not too surprising.


	14. Chapter 14

**IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!! This is NOT the original version of this chapter! **

**You want the original (NC-17) version?**

A. Go to my profile (click on the button with my name on it in the above left corner) and click on the first link in my bio, which will take you to my account where I keep my smutty stuff. (the second link will have the chapter in a week or so).

B. Mail me and ask me for it at (if the e-mail doesn't work, it's probably because won't allow it to appear correctly (it has happened before) and you'd better check my bio for it).

**A/N:** this chapter might be edited, but it still has explicit content. Might I ask again to mail _me_ if you don't think it's suitable. Thank you!

**Chapter 14**

Draco couldn't believe that Hermione had actually just digested the Veritaserium herself. Why would she voluntarily put herself into such a vulnerable position?

"Why did you just do that?" Draco asked.

"I panicked" Hermione admitted nervously, shifting self-consciously in her seat. "I didn't know what else to do."

"Do you want me to stop asking questions then?"

"No, it's only fair that you get to poke around in my head in return" Hermione said. "And later on I don't want to get this thrown in my face whenever we have a quarrel."

"Later?" Draco asked with raised eyebrows. "So... have you forgiven me for being such an ass?"

"Yes" Hermione answered simply.

"Why?"

"Because you're sorry about what you did, I now understand why you did it and you promised never to do it again" Hermione said.

Draco nodded in understanding. He had this sudden urge to leap off the seat and do a happy-joy-joy-dance, but somehow he didn't think that that would look very appealing. Draco knew he was on thin ice here and he wasn't about to screw things up. The best thing to do was to do what Hermione had asked of him: ask questions.

"When exactly did you realise you fancied me?" he asked. He still couldn't quite understand how she could have grown to like him during a period in which he was trying to hump Harry Potter.

Hermione seemed to struggle with herself for a minute.

"I realised that I had certain feelings for you when I was laying in your bed after drinking the Polyjuice potion. But I suppose it had only truly sunken in that I fancied you after I had given you that bath."

"Yeah, you mentioned doing that" Draco noted. "Why don't I remember that?"

"You were running a fever, so that's probably the reason why you don't remember it" Hermione explained. "It was the last evening of mating season and you had almost shagged Harry."

Hermione tried to suppress a blush while getting visions from that evening. So many images of that night had the ability to make her blush, either from embarrassment or from arousal.

Draco smirked.

"So you only realised your affection for me after having me stripped naked?" he asked with merriment.

"I let you keep your boxers on!" Hermione said in defence.

"Perhaps" Draco said dismissingly, casually leaning back in his seat. "And did you like what you saw?"

"Yes, you're very pretty" Hermione said, averting her eyes to the floor.

Draco blinked his eyes in question.

"_Pretty_?" Draco asked, being somewhat flabbergasted at her choice of words. "_'Pretty'_? Honestly woman, you can't call a guy 'pretty'!"

"I can't help it" Hermione said. "It's the truth. And besides, you _are_ somewhat effeminate."

"_I am not_!" Draco said, feeling a little offended even though he knew it was probably the truth. "And besides, if anyone should now that I'm _fully_ male, it should be _you_."

"I told you, I let you keep your boxers on!" Hermione argued.

Draco smirked at her while having a moment of contemplation.

"Am I circumcised?" he suddenly asked.

"Yes" Hermione answered and blushed scarlet red as she realised what she had just admitted to. "I... Oh_ bugger_!"

Draco laughed at the girl in front of him, who had now thrown her head in her hands in mortification.

"_That's not funny_!" Hermione pointed out, glaring at the laughing Slytherin.

"Yes it is" Draco grinned. "It proves that we're two pervs in the same pond."

"Can't argue with you there" Hermione smirked. "So, _what else_ do you want to know?"

"Oh, I think I'm done" Draco grinned. He was sure that he could come up with a couple more entertaining questions, but he really didn't feel like pissing her off just now. For his own benefit... and just because he didn't want to.

Hermione smiled and nodded.

"So... where do we go from here?" she asked sheepishly. How does one go from being 'acquaintances' to being 'boyfriend/girlfriend'? She had never done this before, so she didn't really know how to act.

Draco seemed like he was about to answer her question, but was interrupted when suddenly the train started shuddering. Hermione grabbed unto the table for support. Then with a few brusque quakes, the vehicle came to a halt. Hermione released a sigh of relief. Then suddenly the lights fell out.

"What in Morgana's Bane is going on?" Draco said.

"It's probably a malfunction" Hermione said calmly while getting up from her seat. "We should go and ask the driver what's going on so we can inform the others to avoid a panic."

"Right" Draco said, also standing up from his seat.

The compartment was pitch black and Hermione couldn't see where she was going. Luckily, Draco didn't seem to have the same problem as she had, quickly found the door and slid it open.

Hermione felt a rush of adrenaline coursing through her when she suddenly tripped over her own feet and fell face forward... into two strong arms.

"How did you-?"

"I've got great night vision," Draco explained, not letting go of her. Hermione still had her arms clutched around Draco's waist for support, even though she didn't need it anymore. Gods, he smelled good. She could just stand there all day, holding him in silence without feeling even an ounce of boredom. It just felt so comforting, having his arms protectively wrapped around her in the veiling darkness. She suppressed her 'girl power'-instincts from shoving Draco away for the fact that she really didn't _need_ anyone to comfort or protect her. It just felt too damn nice to do so. She felt him lifting one of his hands to caress some of her hair out of her face. Her breathing started getting heavier and it felt as if the room temperature was getting hotter.

"_What do you think you're doing_?"

Hermione snapped out of her reverie and turned her gaze towards the door and consequentially the intruder.

"Ginny?" Hermione asked, recognising her friend's voice. "We're going to check out what-"

"_Sure_ you are" Ginny said sarcastically, not bothering to listen to what Hermione had to say. "Malfoy, do you fancy her?"

Draco arced his brow at the intrusive Gryffindor, but he couldn't refuse to respond since he was still bound to answer any question thrown his way.

"Yes" he answered bluntly.

"Hermione, do you fancy him?" Ginny asked, turning back towards Hermione.

"Yes" Hermione said, even though Ginny didn't know she had drunk the potion herself. Hermione couldn't fathom what her friend was on about. She had just told her herself that she fancied Draco, so why would she ask again? And even if she hadn't known, it should be quite obvious since Hermione was still clutching Draco's body as if it was a life preserver.

"_Then what are you going to do outside?"_ Ginny asked incredulously in a high-pitched voice. "It's a black-out and you have a private compartment all to yourselves. All you need is some grapes and 5 pounds of rose pedals scattered over the seats and you have the setting of a mushy romance novel. _Get back in there!_"

"But-" Hermione stammered.

"_I have spoken_!" Ginny's voice echoed through the corridor as she turned around and walked away to round up the Prefects to calm things down.

Draco couldn't help but smirk at the Weaselette's antics. Gryffindors really weren't very subtle in their methods of trying to get something they want. A Slytherin would lie and scheme to attain something they wanted, but apparently that was too much of a bother for a Gryffindor.

No, they just come out and _ask_.

Or in this case: boss around.

Still... he was a little curious to learn if it had actually worked. The way the Weaselette had put it; it indeed was rather retarded to leave the compartment. He didn't have his supersensitive smell anymore, but he didn't need it to know that Hermione had been affected by his touch. Draco's hand was currently resting in the dip of Hermione's back, and he sure could understand why at the senior dance Weasley had been so keen on sliding his hands downwards. Draco could feel his blood drawing towards the nether regions at feeling her curvaceous body pressing up against his. But still, he wasn't going to rush anything. Being a sexual predator had gotten him into a load of shit, so he was just going to follow Hermione's lead in whatever she was planning to do.

Hermione stared into the void in astonishment. She loved Ginny dearly, but the girl could get a bit carried away with things. She could be as persistent as her mother could... and as _loud_.

Meanwhile Hermione was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that currently her breasts were smooched against Draco's hard chest.

"What are you thinking?" Draco asked.

"I'm thinking that I want you to shut that door again," Hermione answered. She was a bit surprised at her own forwardness, but that honestly was what she had been thinking... among other things. Though she probably wouldn't have said it if she wasn't still under the influence of the Veritaserium.

Draco complied and pulled the door shut, while with his other arm still holding Hermione against him. When the door was closed, Hermione suddenly felt very conscious about the fact that both of them were alone in a dark and confined space. She noted that there was this strange awareness between them. Her eyes had grown more accustomed to the dimness and she could now clearly see Draco turning to look at her. Hermione was a bit taken aback by the intensity she saw in Draco's grey eyes. He gave her the same look he had given her that night when she had been in Harry's body. The look that had made her feel like crap, because she had thought no one would ever look at her that way... with such yearning. But now someone did. Draco did.

"What are _you_ thinking?" Hermione asked in return.

"I'm thinking that I want to rip that damn concealing uniform of off you, lick every curve and angle of your body and make you scream out my name as I make love to you" Draco answered huskily.

Hermione suddenly found it very difficult to breathe. She grabbed Draco's head between her hands, leaned in and pressed her lips against his in a bruising kiss. She traced his bottom lip with her tongue, but he had been slightly ahead of her and had already parted his lips to grant her access. Her heartbeat quickened as her tongue explored the warm interior of Draco's mouth. Tongues met in a primal dance, sparked by the all-consuming lust that coursed through their bodies. Hermione had always been the first to praise the power of words, but never had any of them had such an impact on her. She didn't know that the act of speech could make body parts tingle with desire. Once out of curiosity she had read a few pages in one of her mother's smutty romance novels to see what it was all about, but had quickly concluded that the only effect the 'burning loins' and 'heaving breasts' had had on her body were on the muscles she used for laughing. But after having listened to Draco's words; her heart rate had sped up, her mouth had gone dry and she had this incredibly primitive sensation driving her which she could only describe as 'want'. Draco pulled Hermione closer to him and she could feel his manhood growing hard against her thigh. She gently rubbed herself against his body and eagerly tangled one of her hands in his hair, still not quite able to fathom how he could get it so soft.

As soon as Hermione's lips had touched his own, Draco's brain had said its goodbye's and had hurriedly left the room. Even though she was as smart and intelligent as a person can be, Hermione still was able to let her mind take a break when situation called for it and let her body take things over. She was as fiery and passionate as Draco had imagined her to be. Draco could feel her breath against his face and her fingers gripping his hair and _dammit_ he wanted her closer.

Hermione could feel her feet starting to move. She wasn't sure if she was the one who had started to move or if she was following Draco, but she decided that it didn't really matter. Suddenly Hermione found herself straddling Draco's lap as he was seated on one of the couches, not quite sure how they had gotten into that position. She moaned in rapture while he was eagerly sucking on her tongue. His hands were caressing her body through the thin material of her uniform. She wasn't really sure on where her own hands were supposed to go during this, so she just disconnected her hands from her brain and let them roam to wherever the hell they wanted to go... which was basically everywhere on Draco's body. One of Draco's hands was teasingly sliding up her left leg, went under her skirt and cupped her curvaceous bum, while with his other hand his nimble fingers had started working the buttons of her shirt. Hermione had the urge to slap his hands away and just rip the stupid shirt open. It was then that she realised that she needed to calm herself before she would hurt herself or something.

"Wait a second" she said huskily, breaking the kiss and reaching in her pocket to retrieve her wand. She cast a quick Distraction Charm and Locking Spell on their compartment so no one could intrude their... their...

_Oh good God_, she was going to have sex with Draco Malfoy! A part of her brain told her that this must be the stupidest idea ever! She was about to lose her virginity in a train compartment to a man she had detested for over 6 years.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked, looking at her in question. Hermione paused to look at him. His hair was slightly muzzled, his lips were bruised from her kisses and even through the dimness she could see a faint blush on his cheeks.

Hermione smiled.

No, it was the best idea ever.

"Absolutely nothing" Hermione answered, casting a quick Contraception charm on herself and throwing her wand into the darkness behind her. She leaned back in and continued to let herself be consumed by Draco's kisses. Hermione knew that he had no ill intentions. If they slept together, it would be because he wanted to _without_ an ulterior motive. Draco had expressed that he wanted them to be lovers and Hermione would gladly oblige. As she was straddling him she could feel his hardness pressing against her feminine core and in instinct she nestled herself closer to it. Draco groaned against her lips when she rubbed herself against his arousal, so she did it again. This time she moaned herself, feeling the friction through the thin fabric of her knickers and against her clit. Now she couldn't stop herself from blatantly rubbing herself against him. Hermione found the act a rather wanton thing to do, but it felt so wonderful. It was like scratching a persistent itch; it felt relieving, but at the same time it also made her ache for more.

Draco had Hermione's blouse half opened and her lacy bra was exposed. It might be a typical male-thing, but Draco had a bit of a soft spot when it came to breasts. They were round, they were soft and they looked so damn alluring. Now having Hermione's bra-clad bosom exposed to his view, Draco couldn't help but wonder _where the hell she had been hiding_ _those_? Yet another reason to curse those black shapeless robes the school forced them to walk around in all day.

He eagerly pulled the bra strap off her right shoulder, which pulled the garment slightly out of place and loosened its grip on her breasts. Draco reached under her shirt, around her back and opened the clasp with the flick of his hand. His hands went back to the front, slid under the cups of her bra to cup her full breasts. When his hands enclosed her gorgeous breasts, he could feel her pleasured shudder even reaching up to his tongue inside the confinements her mouth. She arced into his caress and Draco felt her nipples instantly hardening under his palms as he kneaded her responsive globes. It was damn difficult to concentrate while she was devouring his mouth like that and kept rubbing herself against him in a way that was driving him insane. While keeping his left hand in place, he used his right-hand to lift her breast out of the cup.

Hermione whimpered in sorrow when Draco suddenly released his lips from her mouth, but that whimper turned into a surprised and approving gasp when a warm wetness suddenly enveloped her rosy nipple. She stopped moving, looked down instead and watched him as he teased her nipple with his tongue and teeth. It was an endearing sight really, seeing a grown man suckling on a woman's breast; an act Hermione had always associated with nursing infants. She couldn't contain herself from uttering a hiss when Draco rolled the nipple between his teeth and flicked his tongue against it. She grabbed his hair and pushed his head harder against her in an act of zealousness. She couldn't quite grasp how this could feel so _good_. Since when did nipples do that? An urgent throbbing in her centre shouted out to her, calling for attention. She sank deeper against his body, ensnaring him against her own.

A whimper escaped parted lips when Hermione started rubbing herself against Draco's erection again and Draco was surprised to conclude that _he_ had been the one to utter that noise. Since when did Draco Malfoy _whimper_? He knew he had to act and get this show on the road. A rather crude way of putting it, but still the truth. If they were going to keep this up, he would be coming in his pants before they'd even get started. He removed his lips and hands from her breasts and urged her to move off him. She complied, if somewhat reluctantly, and followed his guidance into laying down upon the seat.

Hermione could feel her back making contact with the cold leather seat and eagerly awaited Draco's next move. She wanted this. She wanted _him_. She wanted him so badly! She had this incredible yearning that felt so intense it almost hurt.

"Dammit Draco...!" she cursed when Draco sat himself at her foot end and started removing her shoes and socks, taking his sweet time in the process.

"Getting impatient are we?" Draco purred playfully.

Hermione huffed in reply, but quickly was rewarded for her patience. Draco sat himself on his knees and teasingly slid his hands over her legs and hips, the touch of his hands sending shivers all over her spine. When he stopped at her knickers, Hermione lifted her hips so that Draco could pull them from under her skirt and off her legs. Before tossing the garment away, Draco brought it to his nose and smelled it; an act Hermione thought she would find disgusting, yet found strangely arousing.

"Why did you do that?" Hermione asked in wonder. She wasn't appalled by the act, but she just couldn't fathom why someone would want to smell her underwear.

"I wanted to smell you" Draco said simply. "Don't think I don't know that you've been putting smell-repellent charms on yourself during the month we spent together. I must ask you never to do that again. I like your smell. It's arousing."

He shifted from his position and went to sit on his knees on the floor, next to Hermione, and pulled her in for another searing kiss. Mouths clung together and tongues tangled in a heated embrace. Hermione's head started to feel dizzy, but oxygen really felt secondary at that time. Draco's left-hand had found its way to one of her breasts again, softly caressing her responsive skin. His other hand was slowly making its way up her inner thigh, his tender touch making Hermione quiver with ache. She was so aroused that it was practically painful. She just wanted to grab his hand and place it where she needed it the most, but at the same time she also wanted to relish every touch and draw this out as long as possible. Hermione felt rather exposed without any knickers on, never even going to bed in the nude because it made her feel uncomfortably naked. She did note that somehow it increased the exoticness of the situation; feeling the air on her exposed womanhood while she was still almost fully dressed in her school uniform, the skin of crucial erogenous zones excluded.

When Draco finally touched her clit, she arced her back and made a sound that was something in-between a gasp and a moan. He pressed two fingers against the swollen nub and started stimulating it. As he pleasured her, Draco couldn't help but to let his eyes feast over Hermione's body. The way she was laying there, Draco thought she should be the illustration in the dictionary next to the word 'sensuality'. Hermione's lips were swollen from their passionate kisses and were slightly parted while she was panting heavily. Her clothes were wrinkled and partially undone, due to Draco's previous uncontrollable urge to touch her bare skin. Hermione's skirt was bunched up around her waist to uncover the sight of her creamy thighs. Her shapely legs were lightly spread with Draco's hand in-between them, pleasuring her soaking-wet, aching pussy.

In short, she looked absolutely ravishing.

And that was all Draco could think about doing: ravishing her.

Hermione started bucking her hips in automatic response to his stimulations. He shifted his hand and eased two fingers inside of her. When he did, Draco instantly felt Hermione tensing up below him.

"No, Draco" Hermione said pleadingly. "I just... I want-"

"I know, love" Draco reassured, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. "But it's your first time. It will be better for you if I stretch you first."

Hermione nodded in understanding and let Draco work his magic. While he started pumping his fingers in and out of her dark wet core, Hermione felt him leaning in to trail little kisses down her neck. Draco steadily moved downward past her collarbone, teasingly flicking his tongue over her nipples as he paid homage to her breasts and placing little licks over her sensitive abdomen as he moved down even further.

Draco moved, sitting back on the seat and urging her to spread her legs a bit wider so he could settle himself between them. He leaned in a bit to smell her. The musky scent of woman, arousal and something totally Hermione. He couldn't contain a grin when Hermione started making those adorable cooing noises again, the same ones she had made that time in the common room. Draco couldn't wait to start noticing other things that she recurrently did. Did she always climax with her eyes closed, or would that change with the way he was pleasuring her? If he were to bring her to orgasm by burying his face between her thighs, would her face and body react any differently? He wanted to experiment and he wanted to know.

At this point nature took over and went on its course to turn two needy, lust-driven people into a satisfied heap of flesh. Initially slow and careful movements made place for needy thrusts and uncontrolled writhes. Flesh slapped against flesh, trembling hands tangled and moans increased and became louder until they reached the inevitable climax and both got pushed into pleasurable obscurity.

The compartment had gone silent except for the sounds of two sets of irregular breathing, struggling to relax their breath. Hermione enclosed her arms around Draco and cradled him against her. His weight was heavily pressing on top of her, yet she didn't find it bothersome. Instead, it heightened the awareness of being so close to him. It might be a bit pervy, but Hermione wished she could take a picture of both of them the way they were now. A sweaty and satisfied heap of flesh. Hermione thought it had something carnal about it yet also something incredibly sweet.

"I'm not crushing you, am I?" Draco asked concernedly.

"No" Hermione answered serenely. "It's nice actually."

She just lay there for a few moments, relishing the feeling of Draco's body against hers.

"You still haven't answered my question, you know" Hermione said with a smile.

"And which one was that?" Draco asked, lifting his head so he could look at her. "I'm sorry to say that I got a little distracted."

"How do we go from here?" Hermione asked sheepishly. It was a bit odd to ask this question to a person who was currently still inside of her, but no one could ever accuse Hermione Granger of not being practical.

"I suppose dinner should be appropriate" Draco said with a grin. "Can you get to the entrance to Diagon Alley tomorrow at... 6 P.M.?"

"Sure" Hermione answered with a grin.

"Good. It's a date."

"Good" Hermione replied.

"Good" he echoed.

Hermione sighed, both in contentment as in grief of knowing that they had to get up soon. She happily would have laid there for a couple of hours, wrapped in Draco's arms while drifting off into sleep, but they couldn't hide away forever. People were bound to notice their absence.

"I think we'd better get up" Hermione said mournfully. "We don't want to make people suspicious by staying away too long."

Draco cocked an eyebrow in that damn sexy way only he could pull off.

"It's always the same with you women" Draco said with playful sarcasm. "After you've gotten your carnal ways with the men you can't wait to get out of the room so you won't have to cuddle. It's selfish and mean. I demand a cuddle!"

Hermione sniggered at Draco's antics and grabbed his head between her hands to pull him in for a shower of butterfly kisses.

A little cuddling couldn't hurt, so she would oblige.

Reluctantly off course.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

End of chapter 14

A/N: for the people who didn't read the A/N at the top and are obviously blind: this wasn't the original version of the story. You still want the original: follow the instructions at the top of the page.

**Thanks for reviewing!**

Kbluesmom, libraflyter, Kirara26, Moon Burst, Evil Duckie of the BlackLagoon, slyswn28, Magicall Me, LUPIN'S LOVE SLAVE, nan, lollylover, rupertsgirlie, Makalani Astral, Parcheezie, Kim, charmed piper, Shorty, hermyandron4evr, Lily, Silent-Serpent, Elizabeth223, tHePuRpLeLuVeR, Heather, the-sexy-flower, savvyfairy, elijahsbaby1981, sw33tdohtee, slytherin-tongues, RiahDragonHeart, couch-potato01,

**Zaralya**: You 'order' me? I do not take orders, woman! I am a free person an... ah what the hell. For once, I will because you have a cold.

**Mandabella**: You know what, I think you're starting to see though me. :-)

**Munku-JGSPTV: **ROFL! Imagine if he would have taken the 'prove it'-line the wrong way and had just launched himself at her. That would have spared me allot of writing. :-)

**Gr8Sk8er**: Well, I thought it was good, but my friend thought it was 'absolutely brilliant'. And I've read reviews who thought it was rubbish. So I think it depends on who's seeing it. :-)

**Undying at Midsummer**: I don't think I can get away with putting "Mirror, mirror,..." on I think it's a little past R. It can be debated, but I'm not risking it.

**Queen of Serpents:** Writing Draco after he's become somewhat 'nice' is like walking on eggshells. With every sentence, it's like 'Whoops, now he's too sweet' or 'Damn, now he's to mean'. I hope I pulled it off though. :-)

**Jenie:** Good god, you don't want to know how I just reacted to reading that I spelled 'yelled' as 'jelled'... AGAIN! I seem to be having a bit of trouble with the letter 'y'. In Dutch we almost have no words with that letter in it, so that might be it.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

After Hermione and Draco had disentangled themselves from each other, they each had gone in search for their discarded clothes. Even though Hermione couldn't stop herself from grinning like a Cheshire cat, she noted that she felt something missing. At first she thought that it might be that she felt a bit mournful about her lost virginity (it's hard not to get attached to it after almost 18 years) but she didn't think that was it. When she looked over to Draco and when she saw him tucking his shirt back into his pants, she realised what it was.

"Wait" Hermione said, catching Draco's attention. "It's just... can I just _see_ you for a moment?"

Draco looked at her in question, not initially understanding what she meant, but when she walked up to him and started undoing the buttons of his shirt, he understood.

She wanted to see him naked.

Draco let her undress him, letting his shirt slide off his shoulders and fall to the floor. She pulled his pants and boxers down and threw them where his shoes and socks lay. Now naked before her, Draco let her unashamedly devour his body with her eyes.

Hermione let her eyes rake over Draco's form as she tentatively paced around him. She had seen him before solely clad in boxers, but then she had been reluctant to look at him.

Now she could.

And she did.

Eagerly.

She had never really understood the obsession most girls had for a guy's butt, but now she sure did. They were just two little buns, begging to be squeezed. A grin crossed her face when she recalled that she had done that very thing only a few minutes ago. Ignoring the impulse to do it again, she started taking her own shirt off while still standing behind Draco. She wanted him to see her naked too, finding it unnatural to having lost her virginity to someone who hadn't even seen her without any clothes on. Hermione felt a bit nervous about this, realising that the people who had seen her naked after she had hit puberty could be counted on two hands and had all been female.

Draco heard the shifting of fabric and clothing falling to the floor. He had been able to feel Hermione's gazes as if she had been placing kisses instead of just looks, and it had been driving him insane. He had just gotten a mind-blowing orgasm, yet he already felt his blood redirecting itself to his groin again. Next thing, he felt Hermione snaking her arms around his waist and hugging him close, letting him feel her nakedness. Draco could feel her hair tickling his neck and her breasts and nipples pressing against his back.

"Oh Gods..." he groaned. He turned around and caught Hermione in a bruising kiss. She eagerly responded and hugged herself close to his front. The skin-to-skin contact felt amazingly erotic. She was surprised to feel Draco's hardness pressing against her stomach. How could he possibly be hard again so soon afterwards?

"Hermione, you're gorgeous," Draco said huskily after releasing her lips, letting his eyes rake over her soft curves.

Hermione blushed at his praise.

"I know," she smirked in a failed attempt to cover up the fact that she felt flattered. "So are you by the way."

"I know" Draco simply said.

They both smirked at each other. Then Hermione softly caressed Draco's upper arms and leaned in to kiss his collarbone, something she had wanted to do for what seemed like ages. Draco groaned at the tender caress and in reflex he arced his hips against hers.

"Do you think we can-?" Hermione impishly asked, but was brusquely interrupted when with a start the train suddenly went underway again and the lights went back on.

"I think we'll have to postpone it to another time" Draco smirked, if somewhat ruefully. He would have liked to have another go at it as well.

Damn stupid train and its damn stupid timing!

They let go of each other and this time they really went to get dressed. Hermione first did a little cleaning charm on herself, because after standing up for a while she could feel the mixture of their juices starting to drip down her legs. She didn't suppose her parents would enjoy picking their daughter up from school while said daughter looked like she had just been well and thoroughly shagged. Which she still did actually, even after having performed the cleaning spell. Faint marks of bruising were starting to appear on her breasts and inner thighs, and love bites were randomly scattered across her body.

In situations like this, those concealing uniforms were a plus.

When they both were dressed, Hermione lifted the Locking- and Distraction spells she had placed on their compartment so they could depart.

"You go first" Draco said, holding the door open for her after having made sure no one was in the hallway. They didn't need to exchange words to make it clear that they weren't ready to just 'come out' like that. The people who they wanted to inform about their involvement would get to hear of it... in due time.

Hermione walked through the doorway and turned left to go in search for her friends, until suddenly Draco's arm snuck around her waist, twisted her around and his lips enveloped her into another needy kiss. He sensuously nibbled on her bottom lip and caressed her cheek with his hand. It was then that Hermione suddenly realised that, until tomorrow, this was goodbye. She let herself be swept away by his hungry kisses, drifting away to a place where only him and her existed; a fictional place where they could touch and kiss and no one would care.

"See you tomorrow" he whispered against her lips, releasing her from his grip. He cast her a playful wink and turned the other way.

"Yeah, see ya'h" Hermione said hoarsely. She realised that, together with her suddenly rampaging hormones, this boy was going to be the death of her.

She turned around and went in search for her friends.

&&&&&&&&&

"So? How was it?" Ginny asked eagerly as she pulled Hermione aside.

"Ginny!" Hermione scolded embarrassedly. Curse the fates that the first person she had to run into had to be _Ginny_! The train had been closer to Kings Cross that Hermione had initially assumed, so when she had met up with Ginny the train was already busy with boarding the station. While everyone was pushing and shoving with their trunks to get off the train to great their parents, Ginny had pulled Hermione aside to have a private chat with her. While Hermione had been searching for excuses to go join the crowds again, Ginny had powerfully clasped her hand around her wrist and had forced her into a private compartment to linger until everyone else had disembarked the train. Regular people would get supernatural strength when one of their loved ones was in danger, _Ginny_ on the other hand got supernatural strength when someone didn't want to gossip with her.

"Ow, come on!" Ginny nagged. "I live for this sort of stuff! It makes up for my own lack of a sex-life. Come on tell me!"

"No!"

"This just isn't fair!" Ginny said. "You get to spend your summer shagging a bloke who's so handsome he even makes a hot-blooded lesbian like me take a moment to ogle. The least you can do is tell me about it. When _I_ get home, all I have is chocolates and Cindy."

Hermione was about to protest again, but frowned instead when her friend's last words had sunk in.

"_Cindy_? Who's Cindy?" Hermione asked.

Ginny dropped her head a bit and gave her a sheepish grin.

"My showerhead" Ginny answered impishly.

Hermione kept frowning.

"Your sh-?" Hermione started, but then understood what Ginny meant and started howling with laughter, Ginny sniggering along with her.

"So..." Ginny said after they had somewhat stopped laughing and went back to the topic at hand. "Is he as good with his other body parts as he is with his hands?

"_Ginny_!" Hermione squeaked, slapping her friend on the wrist.

Ginny stuck her bottom lip out in a pout and Hermione sighed in defeat, knowing that she wasn't going to call it quits any time soon.

"It was fantastic okay," Hermione admitted with a blush.

"Ooooh!" Ginny exclaimed, visibly restraining herself from giddily bouncing up and down. "Does he have the raw, passionate side under that icy exterior I think he has? Did he tare any buttons in his eager to claim you?"

Hermione's eyes widened at hearing her friend's words, but her gaze glazed over a bit at getting a mixture of flashbacks at seeing the icy Slytherin... not so icy.

"Hermione!" Ginny scolded, urging Hermione to snap out of her daydream.

Hermione started sniggering.

"What?" Ginny asked curiously, wanting to know what Hermione was laughing about. "_What? What? What?_"

"No, he didn't tare any buttons" Hermione sniggered. "But I think _I_ tore some of his."

Ginny gasped in awe.

"You go girl!" Ginny praised. "I always knew you had it in you."

"Had what in her?"

Ginny and Hermione turned their heads to the side to see Harry opening the door to their compartment to see if they were ready to go.

"Assertiveness" Ginny answered dryly. "Hermione has just given Malfoy such a mouthful that he probably blacked out and saw stars. Really, this girl is not afraid to go down and dirty when it comes to dealing with Malfoy and his filthy, filthy tongue."

Hermione kicked Ginny against her shin while trying to look natural.

_Is she insane?_

Hermione innocently smiled at Harry as she walked past him and went to fetch her trunk. It didn't seem as if Harry had realised the double meanings in Ginny's explanation. Hermione didn't want Harry to find out just now what exactly Draco's 'filthy, filthy tongue' had done to her. Harry was her best friend and she had to spring this upon him gently. He wasn't going to take it very well when learning that his best friend had shagged Draco Malfoy, son of a Death Eater and nephew to the woman who killed the only person he had ever truly regarded as family.

Meanwhile Luna, who had already disembarked the train by now, was dreamily staring at Hermione as she touched ground with platform 9 3/4. Or _through_ Hermione, it was hard to tell with her. Harry had been going out with Luna ever since the senior dance and they really seemed to have hit it off.

It made sense though.

When Harry had first met Cho Chang, the butterflies in his stomach had started fluttering like crazy and his hormones had gone berserk. And Hermione still vividly remembered how _that_ had turned out.

However, when Harry had first met Luna, he had been rude to her, had ignored her, and hadn't paid her much thought at all.

Same as what happened between Draco and Hermione and she also very well knew how _that_ had turned out. Hermione couldn't help but let her eyes sweep over the crowds, searching for a certain blond Slytherin.

"What?" Hermione asked self-consciously, suddenly noticing that Harry was staring at her.

"Nothing" Harry said, realising that he had been staring. "You look a bit odd that's all."

"Odd?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing bad or anything" Harry assured her, letting his emerald-green eyes rake over her face again. "Actually... you look rather nice. Kind of glowy."

Hermione was about to say something dismissingly, like blaming it on the heat or something, but got interrupted by Luna.

"Well, that's not surprising," Luna said offhandedly. "It's commonly known that girls look pretty and glowy just after having received an orgasm."

The four of them stood in silence.

Hermione's eyes were widened in shock.

Luna knew?

How did she...?

_Oh god, Harry knew!_

"An o-?" he started saying in a baffled tone of voice.

"Guys do to, by the way" Luna interrupted. "Look at Malfoy over there. He looks kind of glowy too."

Everyone's eyes suddenly snapped towards Draco, who seemed to be saying his goodbyes to some of his Slytherin companions. Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat when she noticed that he indeed looked kind of glowy. She just wanted to reach over and strangle Ginny and her big fat mouth! Why did she go and tell Luna? If Hermione had the strength to pass out at this moment, she surely would. If it had been up to her, she would have told Harry and Ron about her involvement with Malfoy by Owl-post... when it was their wedding day or something.

Fantastic, now she was thinking about weddings. How much more girly could she possibly get?

Hermione looked up at Harry and gave him a sheepish look.

She hoped this would be quick and relatively painless, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

Harry frowned, obviously missing the point his girlfriend was trying to make. Hermione thought she could actually see the information seep into Harry's scalp when he realised that she didn't seem to make any move in denying the insinuations. His penny was dropping...

...Dropping...

...Dropping...

KLING

"M-Malfoy?" Harry stuttered. "O-orgasm?"

Hermione nodded while finding the floor very fascinating all of the sudden.

"Really Harry, you're the last person who should be shocked about this" Luna said dryly. "If anyone knows about the sexual magnetism of Draco Malfoy, it's you."

"But-" Harry started in a high-pitched voice.

"I really do think you make a nice couple," Luna continued, turning her dreamy gaze back to Hermione and ignoring Harry's shock. "It's always nice to see two attractive and passionate people blending that passion together."

"_You had sex?_" Harry yelled in disbelief.

"Yeah" Hermione said apologetically, feeling somewhat relieved that the crowd had made enough noise to swallow Harry's loud affirmation. She realised that it would have been quite a shock for Harry, having the information slapped in his face like this. In his eyes, she had just gone from 'Asexual friend' to 'Person who just shagged Draco Malfoy in train compartment'. She could quite relate to that, having felt the same after she had walked in on him and Draco snogging in the Transfiguration's class.

"_You shagged Malfoy?_" Harry yelled. "_Hermione, it's Malfoy!_ _MALFOY_!"

"What about me?" Draco asked dryly as he walked up beside Hermione, snaked his arm around her waist and hugged her close to him. A few seconds ago, when his eyes had spotted Hermione, it had been clear to hers and her friends' body language that something was amiss. When Draco heard his name pop up in the conversation it had been his cue to step in and receive his part of the shouting and accusations.

"_That's it_!" Harry yelled crossly, turning his attention towards Draco. "_First me and then Hermione. Who's next? Ron_?"

"Now there's a thought I would like to have done without," Draco said sourly.

"_Like I care what you think_" Harry spat. "_Hermione, what were you thinking_?"

"Harry, leave her alone" Ginny pitched in. "It's _her_ choice to make."

"Yeah, a _bad_ choice" Harry said, looking at Draco furiously.

"Harry, don't say anything that you'd regret after your emotions have cooled down," Ginny warned. "She's your friend and you're supposed to act as such. Malfoy might be a snotty brat-"

"Thank you" Draco said sarcastically.

"-but if Hermione can live with that, good for her" Ginny finished.

"I don't care" Harry yelled. "Hermione, don't you realise...? I mean... IT'S MALFOY!"

"I know" Hermione said compassionately. "I know it must be really hard for you to understand-"

"_Damn right it is_!" Harry interrupted crossly. "_Couldn't you just have picked anyone else_? _I mean..._ _It's Malfoy_!"

"I do think we've already established my name, Potter" Draco said dryly.

"Just think about the beautiful kids they'd make" Luna said cheerfully.

"_But_-" Harry started protesting, looking incredulously at the whole lot of them.

"Come on" Luna said dismissingly, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him away to obviously deal with him in private. "Stop ruining their post-coital buzz!"

Hermione heard Harry 'butting' as his girlfriend dragged him away to be swallowed up into the crowd.

"That went well," Draco said sarcastically.

"I think it did" Ginny retorted. "In comparison to what Ron's going to react like, this was pleasant conversation."

"Oh Gods, I hope Weaselby isn't coming by for a 'chat'" Draco groaned. "Me and my precious 'post-coital buzz' really doesn't want to deal with him right now."

Hermione sighed, thinking about how Harry must be feeling right now. She really had wanted to break it to him more gently. It was only a matter of time before Ron would be finished with his Prefect's duties and run into Harry, who would pass on the 'awful' news. And even though Hermione was grateful for Draco having buffered part of Harry's arguments, she didn't think he had made Harry feel any better.

"You know Draco," Hermione said with a sigh, "I might have taken a fancy to you and all, but you're still a snotty pest."

"Perhaps" Draco said unaffectedly. "But tomorrow you're going on a date with the snotty pest. So who's the worst off?"

"Err... me?"

"Exactly" Draco said as he sweetly kissed her on the lips. He affectionately squeezed Hermione's hand in a gesture of announcing his departure and took off to fetch his luggage. Draco's mother had probably been waiting for over an hour for the train to arrive, so it wasn't a good idea to keep her waiting any longer. He gave one last look over his shoulder, gave Hermione his handsomest of smiles and set out for home.

Hermione sighed. Things like that made her know that awful situations as she just had had with Harry were worth it.

"Look at my feet!" Ginny said, snapping her head down.

"What?" Hermione asked, somewhat flabbergasted looking down at Ginny's feet.

"Do you see a puddle?" Ginny asked. "Because I think I just melted into a one."

Hermione averted her gaze from the floor and rolled her eyes.

"_You're gay!_" she reminded her friend.

"Yes, well, blame your boyfriend for his effeminate prettiness!" Ginny retorted.

"_He is not effeminate_!" Hermione said, but then remembered that today she had accused him of that very same thing. "And he is not my 'boyfriend'."

Ginny gave her an incredulous look.

"Did you sleep with him?" she asked.

"Yes" Hermione answered.

"Are you going on a date with him?"

"Yes"

"Did he just defend you against Harry like a knight in shining armour."

"I- yes."

"I don't know how to break it to you, but you've got yourself a boyfriend" Ginny said knowingly.

Hermione blinked.

"_O my God, I've got a boyfriend_," she shrieked, clasping her hands in front of her mouth in shock. "When did that happen?"

Ginny laughed at her friend's sudden slow-wittedness.

"I think somewhere in-between orgasms" Ginny smirked as she grabbed her trunk and set off to great her family, with Hermione on her tail.

Hermione chewed her bottom lip as she mentally took a step back from the whole situation between her and Draco. If someone would have told her a year ago that she'd end up sleeping with Draco Malfoy, not only wouldn't she have believed that person; she would have punched him or her in the face. She thought back on that pale little 11-year-old boy she had known in her first year, strutting around with an arrogance that went far beyond his years. She and Draco had never even exchanged words until their second year, yet she had already been acquainted with the likes of him. Not that she had missed much, since the first sentence he had uttered to her had had the word 'Mudblood' in it. Little did Hermione know that six years later she'd be standing on Platform 9 ¾ holding hands with that same snotty pest.

"Are you thinking about Malfoy's talented hands again?" Ginny asked wickedly as she noticed Hermione daydreaming again.

Hermione playfully elbowed Ginny in-between the ribs and dashed off towards the exit.

She really didn't need to be reminded of Draco's hands when she'd have to wait 24 hours before they would touch her again. It would be a whole day before they would be sensuously running through her hair, teasingly caressing her inner thighs, playfully squeezing her bum, touching her lips right before he'd claim them with his own...

Yes, the boy really was going to be the death of her.

Hermione made a mental note to immediately take a cold shower when she got home.

Spontaneous combustion really wouldn't be a very graceful way to go.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

End of chapter 15

**A/N:** The last chapter will be uploaded by tomorrow.

**Disclaimer:** The joke about the showerhead is a wink to 'Malcolm in the Middle'.

**Thanks for reviewing!**

Evil Duckie of the BlackLagoon, Otter my Love, magictrousers830, Makalani Astral, hermyandron4evr, elijahsbaby1981,

**Zaralya**: Thanks, it's always nice to know that my fic surpasses antibiotics. ;-)

**Kbluesmom**: Well, you know what they say: Those who can, do it. Those who can't, write about it. ;-)

**Gr8Sk8er**: Morals? looks around in a panic Where? WHERE?

**Mandabella**: That's the good thing about smut, ain't it: filling in for lack of experiences or making up for lousy ones. :-) I fall under the first category. LOL!

**Queen of Serpents:** Hèhè, don't worry that's for next chapter. And, O gosh, you've got a stalker? Ew, that would totally freak me out.

**Rupertsgirlie:** Err, if 'forever' means 'until tomorrow' then I think I can oblige.


	16. Chapter 16 epilogue

A/N: Last chapter, dears. It's not that long, but I think it says about everything it should say.

Chapter 16 (epilogue)

Hermione was standing in the bathroom, getting ready for bed. It was the first May after her graduation, which meant that it was once again the Veela's mating season. This wouldn't be much of an issue if Hermione weren't still currently dating a Veela. She rinsed her mouth after brushing her teeth, getting rid of the foul taste of Polyjuice potion, and put the empty cup back next to the sink. Hermione briefly ran her hand through the short black hair that momentarily graced her scalp and exited the bathroom. Taking Polyjuice Potion had become a nightly ritual since last week, when Draco's sleep deprivation had kicked in again. In April, Harry had especially gotten himself a haircut so he could give the cut-off pieces to Hermione to make Polyjuice. She still wasn't allowed to do any peeking while in his body since Harry had made her promise not to.

As had Luna.

As had Draco.

Hermione really didn't know what the big deal was, since it wasn't as if she hadn't seen Harry naked before. She still couldn't help but blush vigorously at remembering that little incident in the Gryffindor locker room.

Burned on her retina, that was.

When Harry had first found out about her and Draco, Hermione had known that he was going to be upset about it all... for a whole number of reasons, the one more disturbing than the other. But Harry actually got over the initial shock rather quickly, mostly due to Luna's influence. Luna had let her know that she had a bit of a stake in Hermione and Draco sticking together. She didn't find the thought of Draco showing up on her boyfriend's doorstep to snag him away all that alluring, so she somewhat preferred having Hermione's support when May arrived again.

It turned out Luna wasn't all that bad. She was a bit weird, but very clever. One day when they were exchanging cooling spells, Luna had casually announced that she knew a Freezing Spell so forceful that it could turn a train engine into an ice cube. An ice cube that was so cold it would take the hottest Heating charm over an hour to make the engine operational again.

When it had sunken in on what that little piece of information meant, Hermione had instantly put "Send thank-you card to Luna" on her 'to do'-list.

Surprisingly, Ron had been more upset than Harry was. Ginny had let Hermione know that Ron had had a crush on her for a while now, so she could quite understand his reaction. He had been angry with Hermione for months, until one day he had shown up on her doorstep telling her that he wasn't happy with her decision but that he was going to try to deal with it.

Apparently Ginny had knocked some sense into him.

Literally, judging by the humungous black eye he had been sporting at the time of his conversion.

Someone who had been equally angry about their relationship was Draco's mother. She also possessed Veela-blood, and Veela's were quite known for their vicious tempers. The thought of her son being in a serious relationship with a Muggleborn was just plain unacceptable. But later on, her anger had dimmed down for some reason and had evolved into grudging acceptance. Hermione had the suspicion that Draco had casually informed his mother about his Veela-status, along with who his mate _really_ was.

Narcissa was now probably comforting herself with the fact that Hermione was a girl... and _not_ Harry Potter.

In the wife of a Death Eater's eyes, _anyone _is better suited to date your son than Harry Potter is. _Even_ a Muggleborn.

Not that Hermione would say it aloud, but she was rather relieved to know that Draco's father was still in prison. Narcissa was the kind of Pureblood who preferred all Muggles and Muggleborns to kindly lay down and die, while Lucius wouldn't 'kindly prefer' and wouldn't hesitate to take matters into his own hands. Therefore, his incarceration (and therefore his obliviousness to whom his son was romantically involved with) was somewhat of a relief to Hermione.

So now, she had taken her residence in her boyfriend's apartment since the beginning of May to help him through his troubles again. Draco had repeatedly asked her to permanently move in with him, but she had cordially refused; wanting to learn to stand on her own two feet before she did that.

Most people would probably find it a bit strange that Hermione didn't find it insulting that for one month a year her boyfriend found the thought of sleeping with her repulsive. And above that; instead wanted to shag her best friend, who was male. Hermione knew it was just Draco's hormones acting up, so why would she think anything of it? What was frustrating on the other hand, was to see Draco walking around in constant arousal and watching him touching himself all day long.

Before breakfast.

After breakfast.

_During_ breakfast.

Draco was making Hermione almost as frisky as he himself was.

A vibrator _really_ is a girl's best friend.

Hermione moved into the bedroom and found Draco already waiting for her, his body casually sprawled over the bed. His hair was still curly, since he didn't bother to use the Sleakeasy's hair potion when he didn't plan on leaving the apartment. And ever since Hermione had expressed her liking for it, he even left it curly more often.

"Say anything about me looking hot and I'm sleeping on the couch" Hermione warned sarcastically.

"I wouldn't dare" Draco answered, but still couldn't help looking at her with hungry eyes. It was a bit odd, but she could deal with it as long as he kept looking at her in the same lusty way when it wasn't May and she was in her own body.

"Can't you just mate with me?" Draco asked as Hermione laid herself beside him on the bed. "You're in Potter's body, you have his equipment. It could work."

"No, it wouldn't" Hermione said dismissingly. "At most, it would give a momentary satisfaction. The sexual release would probably ware off at the same time as the Polyjuice does."

"So? It would save me from _this_ for about half an hour" Draco said, gesturing at his prominent erection. "And can you honestly say that you're not at least a bit curious about what it's like to have sex like a man?"

A moment of silence passed between the two of them.

"You actually just considered shagging me, didn't you?" Draco said with merriment.

"No, I didn't" Hermione denied sheepishly. She couldn't help but let her mind drift to what it would be like, but she never actually would consider doing it. It would just be weird, being in Harry's body and all.

"Yes, you did!" Draco retorted.

"_Draco, don't touch me like that_!" Hermione yelped as Draco affectionately caressed her side. She already had a rough time since he couldn't sleep with her for over a month, she really didn't need to be reminded of that. _Especially_ _not_ when she was in Harry's body, of which both the original as the Polyjuice-version possessed a history of getting spontaneous reactions to Draco's touch (something she had vowed never to tell Harry about).

"Why?" Draco asked, pinching her sides. "Getting exited?"

"Watch it, or I'm mating with you!" Hermione warned.

"As if you would" Draco huffed playfully.

In response, Hermione forcefully flipped Draco over to his side and spooned herself behind him while trying to come up with a bunch of un-sexy thoughts.

"Yes, I do believe that that's the correct position to start out with" Draco said jokingly.

"Shut up and go to sleep!" Hermione groaned. She knew Draco was just teasing, since she was aware of what his thoughts were on being bottomised. She also knew how much he enjoyed seeing her blush with embarrassment.

She felt his body relaxing against her and noticed his breathing becoming heavier, indicating that he was drifting off into sleep.

Hermione smirked when thinking that tomorrow _she _would be having the last laugh. Living with a spoiled pest like Draco had made her quite used to enforcing payback. She made a mental note to take a picture of Draco's face when tomorrow he'd discover the new item she was going to put on their shopping list.

Lubricant.

&&&&&&THE END&&&&&&

A/N: So we've reached the ending of this tale. I hope the ending wasn't too disappointing. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. Maybe until next time. Toodles!

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**MagicFairyDuster, mandabella, Moon Burst, hermyandron4evr, Parcheezie, Silent-Serpent, slyswn28,** **kbluesmom,** ****

**Makalani Astral:** Sorry that I didn't exactly put in Ron's reaction. It's just, there comes a point in writing DM/HG fics in which you just can't continue to write out _everyone's_ reactions. Everyone's going to be angry and I don't think it should be spelled out every time. But perhaps that's just me. :-) In my next fic I'll give Ronniekins his time to shriek and shout. :-)

**Dizzydragon**: Another bun is in the oven already, if you know what I mean.

**Heather**: Yes, something new is on the way. Can't say when it will be done, because it has suddenly sprung to my attention that I also attend school. Totally slipped my mind. ;-)

**elijahsbaby1981:** See, that's why you should always read A/N's. :-) Well, this story was practically finished when I started posting it, so I managed to update daily. I like to have things written before I post, otherwise the story can just go on and on and on... But when I reached chapter 14 it came to my attention that it didn't flow right, so I was forced to hold off posting until it was the way I wanted it.

**savvyfairy**: Fuck! I thought about that, but 'tear' just didn't seem right. I need to learn to trust my instincts better. :-)

**charmed piper:** I don't think Luna was stupid. I think she sort of helped out by bringing things out in the open early on.

**Undying at Midsummer:** I actually really think Harry and Luna will become an item in the books. That's why I tend to pair them up whenever I get the chance. Most people seem to disagree, but I'm willing to bet some serous money on the pairing.

**Male-chan**: I think that's another reason for him to act that way. He almost shags Malfoy and Hermione knew what was going on and didn't tell him. Mating season's over, he tries to pick up his life again, forgives Hermione and then finds out she's shagging the person who tormented him for years and almost wrecked his self-image. Pretty good reason to be pissed off about, don't you think?


End file.
